David Brewster's House

David Brewster's House

Natural Philosophy,Photography

David Brewster's House, Principal of St Andrews 1837-1859. Best known as the inventor of the kaleidoscope and an early developer of photography, Brewster (1781-1868) made major contributions to the field of optics, including the connection between refractive index and polarising angle, biaxial crystals, and the production of double refraction by irregular heating. He described the dioptric lens system, generally attributed to Fresnel, in 1812, and was largely responsible in getting it adopted by British lighthouses. His house, was subsequently occupied by the mineralogist M. Forster Heddle (1828-1897), and is now part of St Leonard's School.

1781

sjv1@st-andrews.ac.uk

Site

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current,56.339283732376224,-2.7891755104064946;

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South Street