PHYSICIST

David Brewster

1781 - 1868

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Sir David Brewster KH PRSE FRS FSA Scot FSSA MICE (11 December 1781 – 10 February 1868) was a Scottish scientist, inventor, author, and academic administrator. In science he is principally remembered for his experimental work in physical optics, mostly concerned with the study of the polarization of light and including the discovery of Brewster's angle. He studied the birefringence of crystals under compression and discovered photoelasticity, thereby creating the field of optical mineralogy. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of David Brewster has received more than 444,397 page views. His biography is available in 53 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 48 in 2019). David Brewster is the 257th most popular physicist (down from 215th in 2019), the 701st most popular biography from United Kingdom (down from 694th in 2019) and the 29th most popular British Physicist.

David Brewster was a Scottish scientist and inventor. He is most famous for inventing the kaleidoscope.

Memorability Metrics

  • 440k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 67.68

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 53

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 8.05

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 3.95

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among PHYSICISTS

Among physicists, David Brewster ranks 257 out of 851. Before him are Ivar Giaever, Claude-Louis Navier, Brian Josephson, Charles Wheatstone, Masatoshi Koshiba, and Philip Warren Anderson. After him are Otto Robert Frisch, Rainer Weiss, Syukuro Manabe, Max Delbrück, John Hasbrouck Van Vleck, and Julian Schwinger.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1781, David Brewster ranks 14. Before him are Stamford Raffles, Adelbert von Chamisso, William I of Württemberg, Anton Diabelli, Achim von Arnim, and Frederica of Baden. After him are Joseph Karl Stieler, Princess Juliane of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Mauro Giuliani, Karl Christian Friedrich Krause, Archduke Ferdinand Karl Joseph of Austria-Este, and Johann Baptist von Spix. Among people deceased in 1868, David Brewster ranks 12. Before him are Mongkut, August Schleicher, Alexandre Colonna-Walewski, Okita Sōji, William T. G. Morton, and Mihailo Obrenović. After him are Adalbert Stifter, Franz Berwald, James Mayer de Rothschild, Kondō Isami, Eléonore Denuelle de La Plaigne, and James Brooke.

Others Born in 1781

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Others Deceased in 1868

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In United Kingdom

Among people born in United Kingdom, David Brewster ranks 701 out of 8,785. Before him are Benjamin Hornigold (1680), Charles Wheatstone (1802), James May (1963), George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham (1592), Peter Greenaway (1942), and Francis Hutcheson (1694). After him are William Webb Ellis (1806), Julian Huxley (1887), Chris Rea (1951), Ann Radcliffe (1764), John Surtees (1934), and Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex (1964).

Others born in United Kingdom

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Among PHYSICISTS In United Kingdom

Among physicists born in United Kingdom, David Brewster ranks 29. Before him are David J. Thouless (1934), William Shockley (1910), John Kendrew (1917), Patrick Blackett (1897), Brian Josephson (1940), and Charles Wheatstone (1802). After him are John Cockcroft (1897), Daniel Rutherford (1749), Andrew Huxley (1917), Osborne Reynolds (1842), Anthony James Leggett (1938), and Nevill Francis Mott (1905).

British born Physicists

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