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 as well as a scientific biography of Isaac Newton.

He played a major role in setting up the British Association for the Advancement of Science.