Jedburgh, on December 11, 1781. He was educated at Edinburgh
University, and was licensed as a clergyman of the Church of
Scotland by the Presbytery of Edinburgh. Nervousness in the
pulpit compelled him to retire from clerical life and devote
himself to scientific work, and in 1808 he became editor of
the "Edinburgh Encyclopaedia." His chief scientific interest
was optics, and he invented the kaleidoscope, and improved
Wheatstone's stereoscope by introducing the divided lenses. In
1815 he was elected a member of the Royal Society, and, later,
was awarded the Rumford gold and silver medals for his
discoveries in the polarisation of light. In 1831 he was
knighted. From 1859 he held the office of Principal of
Edinburgh University until his death on February 10, 1868. The
"Life of Sir Isaac Newton" appeared in 1831, when it was first
published in Murray's "Family Library." Although popularly
written, not only does it embody the results of years of
investigation, but it throws a unique light on the life of the
celebrated scientist. Brewster supplemented it in 1855 with
the much fuller "Memoirs of the Life, Writings, and
Discoveries of Sir Isaac Newton."


_I.--The Young Scientist_


Sir Isaac Newton was born at the hamlet of Woolsthorpe on December 25,
1642. His father, a yeoman farmer, died a few months after his marriage,
and never saw his son.

When Isaac was three years old his mother married again, and he was