Sir david brewster biography of michaels

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 ; that he pressed its adoption on those in authority at least as early as , 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 as a regular contributor to the Edinburgh Magazine, of which he acted as editor at the age of twenty. In he undertook the editorship of the newly projected Edinburgh Encyclopaedia, of which the first part appeared in , and the last not until 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, etc. 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.

Known for his quick temper and scientific curiosity, he developed an early interest in optics that remained for the rest of his life. An important professional turning point was when Mr. Brewster met James Veitch, who made telescopes at his workshop in the neighboring village of Inchbonny. A visit to Mr. Veitch's workshop left ten-year-old David mesmerized.

Soon, the boy amazingly constructed his first telescope. A child prodigy, Mr. He was particularly engaged in the areas of the polarisation of light, of refraction and reflection, and the absorption of light. He also achieved considerable popular recognition through his invention or, perhaps, rediscovery of the kaleidoscope. He also made significant improvements to the stereoscope.

From Brewster became a regular contributor to the Edinburgh Magazine, and from he edited the Edinburgh Encyclopedia. Opposition to evolution [ edit ]. Family [ edit ]. Recognition and modern references [ edit ]. See also [ edit ]. References [ edit ]. University of Michigan.

Sir david brewster biography of michaels

ISBN The Evolution of Photography. This stereoscope used refractive lenses and began the protocol of having the stereo pairs mounted side by side. Hankins, Robert J. Silverman Instruments and the Imagination. Prinston University Press. Egan, Society of Photo-optical Instrumentation Engineers , "Polarization and remote sensing: 22—23 July ", p.

Brewster Kaleidoscope Society. Disruption worthies : a memorial of , with an historical sketch of the free church of Scotland from down to the present time. Edinburgh: T. Retrieved 18 August Sweeter, p. Archived from the original on 12 December Retrieved 16 January The home life of Sir David Brewster 3rd ed. Edinburgh: D. American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Archived PDF from the original on 18 June Retrieved 9 September Archived 30 October at the Wayback Machine ssplprints. Jackson Spectrum of belief: Joseph von Fraunhofer and the craft of precision optics. MIT Press. Stereoscopic Cinema and the Origins of 3-D Film, — Lexington: University Press of Kentucky. By his daughter. With a portrait.

German Literature in British Magazines, — University of Wisconsin Press. Edinburgh Magazine and Literary Miscellany Merged with Scots Magazine in Cambridge University Press. Taylor; et al. The British Journal of Photography. London: Henry Greenwood.