Sir David Brewster was a British 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.
A pioneer in photography, Brewster invented an improved stereoscope, which he called "lenticular stereoscope" and which became the first portable 3D-viewing device. He also invented the binocular camera, two types of polarimeters, the polyzonal lens, the lighthouse illuminator, and the kaleidoscope.
Brewster was a Presbyterian and walked arm in arm with his brother on the Disruption procession which formed the Free Church of Scotland. As a historian of science, Brewster focused on the life and work of his hero, Isaac Newton. Brewster published a detailed biography of Newton in 1831 and later became the first scientific historian to examine many of the papers in Newton's Nachlass. Brewster also wrote numerous works of popular science, and was one of the founders of the British Science Association, of which he was elected President in 1849. He became the public face of higher education in Scotland, serving as Principal of the University of St Andrews (1837–59) and later of the University of Edinburgh (1859–68). Brewster also edited the 18-volume Edinburgh Encyclopædia.

Lorne Shields has been an avid collector of bicycles and bicycle ephemera since 1967, and was employed for many years as a bicycle wholesaler. His passion for bicycles led him to collect photographs on the subject as well as books, magazines, and bicycle memorabilia. He soon began collecting photography as its own pursuit, and joined the Photographic Historical Society of Canada in 1994. He has lectured widely on the history of bicycle photography, often showcasing his own collection of images. His photographic collection contains much more than bicycle imagery, however and the resulting collection represents a variety of photographic types.

In 1980 he donated much of his Cycling Collection to the Canada Museum of Science and Technology in Ottawa, Ontario. In 2007, Lorne Shields donated a part of his photographic collection (mainly those images not pertaining to bicycles) to Special Collections at Ryerson University Library. Many of his bicycle photographs remain in his possession and he continues to actively collect.

Lorne Shield's collection of bicycle photography was featured in the exhibition From Scorchers to Alley Cat Scrambles at The Market Gallery, Toronto, Ontario, from May 20 to October 1, 2006 and in a lecture by Donald Zaldin entitled ?Getting it in Gear: The Revolutionary Impact of the Bicycle on 19th Century Culture? in the Ephemera Society of America?s March 2007 conference Ephemera/27.