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Sir David Brewster

Sir David Brewster - A Famous Scottish Physicist

Sir David Brewster (1781 - 1868) studied the absorption, polarisation, and reflection of light, formulating the law that governs the polarisation of light upon reflection. This law states that the light reflected from a glass surface is totally polarised when the reflected ray and the refracted ray are at right angles to each other. He discovered the biaxial nature of some crystals and invented the kaleidoscope. Apart from his research activity, Brewster carried out a large amount of literary work in the field of high-level popularisation of the sciences, and in the field of the history of science.

 

 

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