David Brewster

Sir David Brewster (1781 to 1868) was a scientist and inventor of philosophical instruments, born in Jedburgh on 11 December 1781, the second son of the rector of the grammar school. At ten he had finished building a telescope with the help of the local wheelwright James Veitch, at twelve he entered the University of Edinburgh, and at nineteen he took his M.A. He made his first scientific discovery in 1800 while studying optics, became editor of the Edinburgh Magazine the next year, and in 1820 was made an honorary member of the Institution of Civil Engineers. In 1816 he invented the kaleidoscope, which spread rapidly across Europe and America but brought him no practical benefit because it was quickly pirated. His other instruments included several kinds of micrometers, the lithoscope and the lenticular form of the stereoscope.