Treatise on optics

Historical Significance: Brewster(1781 - 1868) was a Scotttish physicist known for work on light and the law on the extent of polarisation on reflection of light, which is called Brewster's law. The signatories on the title page are those of Cyril Kett a founding member of the College Council and signatory to the College's Articles of association. He served on Council until 1970, the year of his death. He was made an honorary life member in 1954, the first to be so honoured. The other person whose signature in in this book on the title page and also the inside of the front cover, W T (William Thomas) Kett, was the father of Cyril Kett and also of William G Kett, a prominent Sydney optometrist (See profile of WG Kett Clin Exp Optom 2000; 83(5): 283-287). William T Kett was born in London, was variously a grazier, a photographic supplies retailer and an optician. William George Kett's birth certificate, No. 21727, shows his father's occupation as grazier. His father's death certificate, No. 2555, gives his occupation as optician. Sands and McDougall's Melbourne Directories list him as a photographic materials supplier at 263 Little Collins St Melbourne from 1898. Wise's Victorian Post Office Directory 1888-1894 show that WT Kett was also a post master, a commission agent and a gold broker in Warburton, Victoria, between 1888 and 1897. The archive holds a spectacle case embossed WT Kett Optician Little Collins Melbourne