David Brewster

David Brewster (1781–1868) was a Scottish physicist, inventor, and writer whose optical research included the law describing polarisation by reflection that bears his name.

Brewster's angle: The incidence angle at which light reflected from a transparent surface is completely polarized parallel to that surface. Brewster found that this angle depends on the refractive indices of the two media.
University of Edinburgh: A public research university in Edinburgh, Scotland, founded in 1583. Brewster studied there before becoming a leading Scottish scientific figure.
William Henry Fox Talbot: An English scientist and inventor who developed an early negative-positive photographic process. Talbot and Brewster corresponded about photography and its scientific development.
Stereoscopy: The production of a perception of depth by presenting different images to the two eyes. Brewster’s stereoscope helped popularize this technique beyond laboratory demonstrations.
Corpuscular theory of light: A theory that explains light as a stream of particles rather than as a wave. Brewster favored corpuscular explanations in debates where wave accounts of polarization gained strength.
Brewster's law: The relation stating that the tangent of the polarizing angle equals the ratio of refractive indices of two transparent media. This is the law of polarization by reflection associated with Brewster’s name.
Edinburgh Philosophical Journal: A Scottish scientific periodical published from 1819 to 1826 and edited by David Brewster and Robert Jameson. Brewster used this journal to publish and circulate scientific work.
James Clerk Maxwell: A Scottish physicist whose electromagnetic theory unified electricity, magnetism, and light. Maxwell later recast optical and electromagnetic questions in a mathematical framework beyond Brewster’s experimental optics.
Stereoscope: An optical viewing device that presents separate images to each eye to create an impression of depth. Brewster’s lens-based design made stereoscopes smaller and easier to use.
Wave theory of light: A theory that explains light as a propagating wave and accounts for interference and diffraction. Its account of polarization differed from Brewster’s preferred corpuscular interpretation.

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Charles WheatstoneCompared with: Brewster’s later stereoscope offered a practical alternative to Wheatstone’s mirror-based design.