Our navigation bar is loading . . . . . .


Advertise on JCSM - Hear JCSM's Weekly Devotions via Podcast/RSS Feed! - Skip These Ads

You can advertise your site right here!Click here to learn more!

 10,000 Wise Quotes and Spiritual Sayings by Jason Gastrich, Ph.D.

 JCSM's Top 1000 Christian Sites - Free Traffic Sharing Service! Join the Online Christ-Centered Ministries!

-
Jesus Christ Saves Ministries

Click here and add this page to your favorites!

Return to the JCSM Study Center!

Encyclopedia Britannica



BREWSTER, SIR DAVID (17811868)

This article appears in Volume V04, Page 514 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: BOS-BRI
BREWSTER, SIR DAVID (17811868) , Scottish natural philosopher, was born on the 11th of December 1781 at Jedburgh, where his father, a teacher of high reputation, was
rector
  of the grammar school. At the early age of twelve he was sent to the university of Edinburgh, being intended for the clerical profession. Even before this, however, he had shown a strong inclination for natural science, and this had been fostered by his intimacy with a " self-taught philosopher, astronomer and mathematician," as Sir Walter Scott called him, of great local fameJames Veitch of Inchbonny, who was particularly skilful in making telescopes. Though he duly finished his theological course and was licensed to preach,
Brewster
 's preference for other pursuits prevented him from engaging in the active duties.of his profession. In 1799 he was induced by his fellow-student, Henry Brougham, to study the diffraction of light. The results of his investigations were communicated from time to time in papers to the Philosophical Transactions of London and other scientific journals, and were admirably and impartially summarized by James D. Forbes in his preliminary dissertation to the eighth edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. The fact that other philosophers, notably Etienne Louis Malus and Augustin Fresnel, were pursuing the same investigations contemporaneously in France does not invalidate
Brewster
 's claim to independent discovery, even though in one or two cases the priority must be assigned to others.
The most important subjects of his inquiries are enumerated by Forbes under the following five heads: (1) The laws of polarization by reflection and refraction, and other quantitative laws of phenomena; (2) The discovery of the polarizing structure induced by heat and pressure; (3) The discovery of crystals with two axes of double refraction, and many of the laws of their phenomena, including the connexion of optical structure and crystalline forms; (4) The laws of metallic reflection; (5) Experiments on the absorption of light. In this line of investigation the prime importance belongs to the discovery (I) of the connexion between the refractive index and the polarizing angle, (2) of biaxial crystals, and (3) of the production of double refraction by irregular heating. These discoveries were promptly recognized. So early as the year 1807 the degree of LL.D. was conferred upon Brewster by Marischal College, Aberdeen; in 1815 he was made a member of the Royal Society of London, and received the Copley medal; in 1818 he received the Rumford
him one-half of the prize of three thousand francs for the two most important discoveries in physical science made in Europe during the two preceding years. Among the non-scientific public his fame was spread more effectually by his rediscovery about 1815 of the kaleidoscope, for which there was a great demand in both England and America. An instrument of higher
interest
 , the stereoscope, which, though of much later date (18491850), may be mentioned here, since along with the kaleidoscope it did more than anything else to popularize his name, was not, as has often been asserted, the invention of Brewster. Sir Charles Wheatstone discovered its principle and applied it as early as 1838 to the construction of a cumbrous but effective instrument, in which the binocular pictures were made to combine by means of mirrors. To Brewster is due the merit of suggesting the use of lenses for the purpose of uniting the dissimilar pictures; and accordingly the lenticular stereo-scope may fairly be said to be his invention. A much more valuable practical result of Brewster's optical researches was the improvement of the British lighthouse system. It is true that the dioptric apparatus was perfected independently by Fresnel, who had also the satisfaction of being the first to put it into operation. But it is indisputable that Brewster was earlier in the field than Fresnel; that he described the dioptric apparatus in 1812; that he pressed its adoption on those in authority at least as early as 182o, two years before Fresnel suggested it; and that it was finally introduced into British lighthouses mainly by his persistent efforts.
Brewster's own discoveries, important though they were, were not his only, perhaps not even his
chief
 , service to science. He began literary work in 1799 as a regular contributor to the Edinburgh Magazine, of which he acted as editor at the age of twenty. In 1807 he undertook the editorship of the newly projected Edinburgh Encyclopaedia, of which the first part appeared in 18o8, and the last not until 1830. The work was strongest in the scientific department, and many of its most valuable articles were from the pen of the editor. At a later period he was one of the leading contributors to the Encyclopaedia Britannica (seventh and eighth editions), the articles on Electricity, Hydrodynamics, Magnetism, Microscope, Optics, Stereoscope, Voltaic Electricity, &c., being from his pen. In 1819 Brewster undertook further editorial work by establishing, in conjunction with Robert Jameson (17741854), the Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, which took the place of the Edinburgh Magazine. The first ten volumes (18191824) were published under the joint editorship of Brewster and Jameson, the remaining four volumes (18251826) being edited by Jameson alone. After parting company with Jameson, Brewster started the Edinburgh Journal of Science in 1824, sixteen volumes of which appeared under his editorship during the years 18241832, with very many articles from his own pen. To the transactions of various learned societies he contributed from first to last between three and four hundred papers, and few of his contemporaries wrote so much for the various reviews. In the North British Review alone seventy-five articles of his appeared. A
list
  of his larger separate works will be found below. Special mention, however, must be made of the most important of them allhis biography of Sir Isaac Newton. In 1831 he published a short popular account of the philosopher's life in Murray's Family Library; but it was not until 1855 that he was able to issue the much fuller Memoirs of the Life, Writings and Discoveries of Sir Isaac Newton, a work which embodied the results of more than twenty years' patient investigation of original manuscripts and all other available sources.
Brewster's relations as editor brought him into frequent communication with the most eminent scientific men, and he was naturally among the first to recognize the benefit that would accrue from regular intercourse among workers in the field of science. In an article in the Quarterly Review he threw out a suggestion for " an association of our
nobility
 , clergy, gentry and philosophers," which was taken up by others and found speedy realization in the British Association for the Advancement of
In ferment- [ Invertase ing wort and Glucase . yeast. Zymase .
Iv. rq
Science. Its first meeting was held at
York
  in 1831; and Brewster, along with Charles Babbage and Sir John F. W. Herschel, had the
chief
  part in shaping its constitution. In the same year in which the British Association held its first meeting, Brewster received the honour of knighthood and the decoration of the Guelphie order of Hanover. In 1838 he was appointed principal of the united colleges of St Salvator and St Leonard, St Andrews. In 1849 he acted as president of the British Association and was elected one of the eight foreign associates of the Institute of France in succession to J. J. Berzelius; and ten years later he accepted the office of principal of the university of Edinburgh, the duties of which he discharged until within a few months of his death, which took place at Allerly, Melrose, on the loth of February 1868.
In estimating Brewster's place among scientific discoverers the chief thing to be borne in mind is that the bent of his genius was not characteristically mathematical. His method was empirical, and the laws which he established were generally the result of repeated experiment. To the ultimate explanation of the phenomena with which he dealt he contributed nothing, and it is noteworthy in this connexion that if he did not maintain to the end of his life the corpuscular theory he never explicitly adopted the undulatory theory of light. Few will be inclined to dispute the verdict of Forbes:" His scientific glory is different in kind from that of Young and Fresnel; but the discoverer of the law of polarization of biaxial crystals, of optical
mineralogy
 , and of double refraction by compression, will always occupy a foremost rank in the intellectual history of the age." In addition to the various works of Brewster already noticed, the following may be mentioned:Notes and Introduction to Carlyle's translation of Legendre's Elements of Geometry (1824); Treatise on Optics (1831); Letters on Natural Magic, addressed to Sir Walter Scott (1831); The Martyrs of Science, or the Lives of Galileo, Tycho Brahe, and Kepler (1841); More Worlds` than One (1854).
See The Home Life of Sir David Brewster, by his daughter Mrs Gordon.


End of Article: BREWSTER, SIR DAVID (17811868)


If you wish, you can link directly to this article.
<a href="http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Encyclopedia/BOS_BRI/BREWSTER_SIR_DAVID_17811868_.html">
BREWSTER, SIR DAVID (17811868)
</a>
(Previous)
BREWING OPERATIONS 		(Next)
BREWSTER, WILLIAM (c. 15661644)

 


 

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries

The JCSM Study CenterAmerica's Christian FoundationSkeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and ExplainedNKJV Web Hosting and Services
JCSM's Sermons, Debates and the Bible on MP3The Online Christ-Centered MinistriesDo You Have A Web Site?  Your Ad Could Be Here!Seminary Notes and PapersThe Picturesque Photo Albums


Kingdom Debt Solutions - Be Debt Free! Sport Logos - Quality Athletic Equipment The JCSM Study Center Your Ad Could Be Here! Launch A Successful Internet Organization or Business! Learn Guitar, Bass, or Piano in San Diego county!

You can advertise your site right here!

Free & Cheap Cell Phones  |  Cheap Long Distance Phone Service Carriers  |  Talk America Local Phone Service  |  Ztel & MCI - Unlimited Long Distance
Compare Cell Phone Plans & Companies  |  International Calling Cards & Prepaid Phone Cards  |  Voice Over IP Broadband Internet Phone Service  |  Wireless Phone Plans & Cheap Cell Phones

Dr. Jason Gastrich

Jason Gastrich, Ph.D.

 

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries is directed by Dr. Jason Gastrich.  It was founded in 1997 and it exists to bring people into a life-changing and productive relationship with Jesus Christ.  JCSM offers over 200,000 free web pages, discussion boards, weekly html and mp3 devotionals, free email accounts, and much more.

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries
P.O. Box 9297
San Diego, CA  92169
1-877-850-3878 or Email

JCSM is a 501(c)(3), non-profit organization. Copyright © 1997-2008.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Online First Aid and CPR Certification  .  The Online Christ Centered Ministries  .  The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained  .  The Inerrancy Discussion Board  .  Free Email Accounts  .  Home Equity Loans  .  JasonGastrich.com  .  The Missions, Apologetics, and Creation Bible Conference  .  Young Earth Creation Science  .  San Diego Music Lessons  .  10,000 Wise Quotes and Spiritual Sayings  .  Gastrich.net  .  Maximizing the Internet: 12 Keys to Success  .  Louisiana Baptist University  .  NKJV Web Hosting and Services  .  Michael Newdow  .  San Diego Soccer Training  . Christian Guitar Lessons  .  Jesus Christ Saves Ministries  .  Eternal Security