A child prodigy, David Brewster went to Edinburgh University at the age of 12. He had a lifelong interest in optics and invented the kaleidoscope and the lenticular stereoscope and introduced the photographers Hill and Adamson to one another. He introduced Fresnel lenses into British lighthouses and wrote over 300 scientific papers and wrote a scientific biography of Isaac Newton. He played a major role in setting up the British Association for the Advancement of Science.
Sir David Brewster is one of the Scots selected in the 19th century to be included in the "Hall of Heroes" in the Wallace National Monument at Stirling.
