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{{Short description|Dutch optical engineer (1893–1972)}}
'''Albert A. Bouwers''' was an optician from the [[The Netherlands]] who lived from 1893–1972. <ref name=bouwers1>Ian Ridpath, "Bouwers telescope", ''A Dictionary of Astronomy'', 1997 [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1O80-Bouwerstelescope.html first sentence of article]</ref> He published in 1940 (during WWII) a design for a telescope that was later called the [[Maksutov telescope]] <ref name=bouwers1/>
'''Albert A. Bouwers''' (1893–1972) was a [[Dutch people|Dutch]] [[Optical engineering|optical engineer]].<ref name=bouwers1>Ian Ridpath, "Bouwers telescope", ''A Dictionary of Astronomy'', 1997 [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1O80-Bouwerstelescope.html first sentence of article]{{dead link|date=February 2019|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> He is known for developing and working with [[X-rays]] and various optical technologies as a high-level researcher at [[Philips]] research labs. He is lesser known for patenting in 1941 a [[catadioptric]] meniscus telescope design similar to but slightly predating the [[Maksutov telescope]].<ref name="Evolution of the Maksutov design">[http://www.weasner.com/etx/guests/mak/MAKSTO.HTM Evolution of the Maksutov design]</ref><ref name="books.google.com">[https://books.google.com/books?id=isH9fTnpc7YC&dq=%22Bouwers+telescope%22&pg=PA152 Reflecting Telescope Optics: Basic design theory and its historical development, By Ray N. Wilson page 150]</ref>


==Biography==
He developed optical device for viewing in low light conditions, called the 'night eye'. <ref name=time> "The View in the Dark", Time Magazine; Friday, Jun. 21, 1963
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Bouwers was born in the town of [[Dalen]] in the Netherlands in 1893.<ref name=rto>Reflecting Telescope Optics, by Ray N. Wilson, page 498. [https://books.google.com/books?id=isH9fTnpc7YC&dq=Albert+Bouwers&pg=RA1-PA498 Google Books, pg 498]</ref> He obtained his [[Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D.]] from [[Utrecht University]] in 1924, with a dissertation entitled in Dutch ''Over het meten der intensiteit van Röntgenstralen''.<ref>[http://genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu/id.php?id=110745 Mathematics Genealogy Project "Albert Bouwers"]</ref> He was also the director of the Philips Laboratory's X-ray department.<ref>"Tensions within an Industrial Research Laboratory: The Philips Laboratory's X-Ray Department between the Wars", by Kees Boersma, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Boersma Enterprise Soc. 2003; 4: 65-98 [http://es.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/4/1/65 Oxford Journals abstract ] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090923154336/http://es.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/4/1/65 |date=2009-09-23 }}</ref>
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[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,874907,00.html? article] </ref> The design used a photosensitive layer of [[cesium]] and [[antimony]] in a cathode-ray tube, to brighten images by over 1,000 times. <ref name=time/> Unlike active infrared systems, it it did not require a infrared flashlight.<ref name=time/> The design was produced by [[Olde Delft Optical Company]] company in Holland initially.<ref name=time/> (see also [[Night vision device]]) He is also credited as inventor of various forms of wide field concentric meniscus telescopes. <ref name=rto/>


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Bouwers developed a [[night vision device]] for viewing in low light conditions, called the "night eye".<ref name=time>[https://web.archive.org/web/20071017225032/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,874907,00.html "The View in the Dark"]. ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]''. June 21, 1963. Archived from [https://web.archive.org/web/20071017225032/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,874907,00.html the original] October 17, 2007.</ref> The design used a photosensitive layer of [[cesium]] and [[antimony]] in a cathode-ray tube, to brighten images by over 1,000 times.<ref name=time/> Unlike active infrared systems, it did not require an infrared flashlight.<ref name=time/> The design was initially produced by [[Olde Delft Optical Company]] in the Netherlands.<ref name=time/>
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Albert Bouwers was born in the town of [[Dalen]] in the Netherlands in 1893. <ref name=rto> Reflecting Telescope Optics, By Ray N. Wilson, page 498. [http://books.google.com/books?id=isH9fTnpc7YC&pg=RA1-PA498&dq=Albert+Bouwers&as_brr=3 Google Books, pg 498] </ref> He earned his Phd. from [[Universiteit Utrecht]] in 1924, with a dissertation entitled in Dutch, ''Over het meten der intensiteit van Röntgenstralen'' <ref> [http://genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu/id.php?id=110745 Mathematics Genealogy Project "Albert Bouwers "] </ref>


==Bouwers meniscus telescope==<!--Meniscus corrector links to this section-->
Bouwers was Director of the [[Philips]] [[Philips Laboratory|Laboratory]]'s X-Ray Department. <ref>" Tensions within an Industrial Research Laboratory: The Philips Laboratory's X-Ray Department between the Wars", by Kees Boersma, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Boersma Enterprise Soc.2003; 4: 65-98 [http://es.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/4/1/65 Oxforf Journals abstract </ref>
[[File:Bouwers meniscus telescope concentric.svg|thumb|350px|right|Albert Bouwers 1941 concentric meniscus telescope]]
In August 1940<ref name=king>''The History of the Telescope'' By Henry C. King, page 360; [https://books.google.com/books?id=KAWwzHlDVksC&dq=Bouwers+published+meniscus&pg=PA360 google books]</ref> Albert Bouwers built a prototype for a design for a wide field concentric [[meniscus telescope]]<ref name="king" /> (patented February 1941) similar to, and slightly predating, [[Russians|Russian]] optician [[Dmitri Dmitrievich Maksutov]]'s 1941 [[Maksutov telescope]].<ref name="Evolution of the Maksutov design" /><ref name="books.google.com" /> War time secrecy kept Bouwers and Maksutov from knowing about each other's designs<ref name=telescopeeng>{{Cite web |url=http://www.telescopengineering.com/history/DmitriMaksutov.html |title=Dmitri Maksutov: The Man and His Telescopes By Eduard Trigubov and Yuri Petrunin |access-date=2009-07-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222122944/http://www.telescopengineering.com/history/DmitriMaksutov.html |archive-date=2012-02-22 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and Bouwers' design was not published until after World War II.<ref>[http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1950IrAJ....1...48A Armstrong, E. B., "'''Geometrical Optics and the Schmidt Camera'''", Irish Astronomical Journal, vol. 1(2), p. 48]</ref> Bouwers original design (based on an earlier catadioptric telescope, [[Bernhard Schmidt]]'s "[[Schmidt camera]]")<ref name="Evolution of the Maksutov design"/> had the spherical mirror and spherical "[[Meniscus corrector|meniscus corrector shell]]" all with a common radius of curvature (a concentric or monocentric design) resulting in a perfectly spherical symmetry of the whole optical device. Like the Schmidt camera, the meniscus telescope has the [[aperture stop]] coincide with the center of curvature. It also shares the Schmidt's curved image plane. The design has an ultrawide field of view with no spherical aberration but does not correct [[chromatic aberration]] and was only suitable as a monochromatic astronomical [[Astrograph|astrographic camera]] working at a single [[wavelength of light]].<ref name=bouwers1/><ref name="Evolution of the Maksutov design"/> Bouwers came up with a later design that used a cemented [[Doublet (lens)|doublet]] to form the meniscus corrector shell to correct chromatic aberration.<ref>D. J. Schroeder (2000). [https://books.google.com/books?id=v7E25646wz0C&dq=maksutov++bouwers&pg=PA202 ''Astronomical Optics'']. page&nbsp;202.</ref>


==References==
==References==
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==Further reading==
==Further reading==
*[http://books.google.com/books?ei=xFTJScLuCMfDtwfIpeGkAw&ct=result&q=Albert+Bouwers&btnG=Search+Books Google Books: "Albert Bouwers"]
*[https://books.google.com/books?ei=xFTJScLuCMfDtwfIpeGkAw&ct=result&q=Albert+Bouwers&btnG=Search+Books Google Books: "Albert Bouwers"]
*[http://www.inghist.nl/Onderzoek/Projecten/BWN/lemmata/bwn3/bouwers ING - Den Haag. Bronvermelding: H.A.M. Snelders, 'Bouwers, Albert (1893-1972)', in Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland] [[http://translate.google.com/translate?prev=hp&hl=en&js=n&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.inghist.nl%2FOnderzoek%2FProjecten%2FBWN%2Flemmata%2Fbwn3%2Fbouwers&sl=nl&tl=en Google Dutch to English translation]
*[http://www.inghist.nl/Onderzoek/Projecten/BWN/lemmata/bwn3/bouwers ING - Den Haag. Bronvermelding: H.A.M. Snelders, 'Bouwers, Albert (1893-1972)', in Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland] [https://translate.google.com/translate?prev=hp&hl=en&js=n&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.inghist.nl%2FOnderzoek%2FProjecten%2FBWN%2Flemmata%2Fbwn3%2Fbouwers&sl=nl&tl=en Google Dutch to English translation]


{{Authority control}}
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[[Category:Opticians]]

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[[Category:Dutch people stubs]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bouwers, Albert}}
[[Category:20th-century Dutch people]]
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[[Category:1893 births]]
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[[Category:1972 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Coevorden]]
[[Category:Utrecht University alumni]]
[[Category:Utrecht University alumni]]
[[Category:Place of death missing]]
[[Category:Optical engineers]]

Latest revision as of 18:15, 30 November 2024

Albert A. Bouwers (1893–1972) was a Dutch optical engineer.[1] He is known for developing and working with X-rays and various optical technologies as a high-level researcher at Philips research labs. He is lesser known for patenting in 1941 a catadioptric meniscus telescope design similar to but slightly predating the Maksutov telescope.[2][3]

Biography

[edit]

Bouwers was born in the town of Dalen in the Netherlands in 1893.[4] He obtained his Ph.D. from Utrecht University in 1924, with a dissertation entitled in Dutch Over het meten der intensiteit van Röntgenstralen.[5] He was also the director of the Philips Laboratory's X-ray department.[6]

Bouwers developed a night vision device for viewing in low light conditions, called the "night eye".[7] The design used a photosensitive layer of cesium and antimony in a cathode-ray tube, to brighten images by over 1,000 times.[7] Unlike active infrared systems, it did not require an infrared flashlight.[7] The design was initially produced by Olde Delft Optical Company in the Netherlands.[7]

Bouwers meniscus telescope

[edit]
Albert Bouwers 1941 concentric meniscus telescope

In August 1940[8] Albert Bouwers built a prototype for a design for a wide field concentric meniscus telescope[8] (patented February 1941) similar to, and slightly predating, Russian optician Dmitri Dmitrievich Maksutov's 1941 Maksutov telescope.[2][3] War time secrecy kept Bouwers and Maksutov from knowing about each other's designs[9] and Bouwers' design was not published until after World War II.[10] Bouwers original design (based on an earlier catadioptric telescope, Bernhard Schmidt's "Schmidt camera")[2] had the spherical mirror and spherical "meniscus corrector shell" all with a common radius of curvature (a concentric or monocentric design) resulting in a perfectly spherical symmetry of the whole optical device. Like the Schmidt camera, the meniscus telescope has the aperture stop coincide with the center of curvature. It also shares the Schmidt's curved image plane. The design has an ultrawide field of view with no spherical aberration but does not correct chromatic aberration and was only suitable as a monochromatic astronomical astrographic camera working at a single wavelength of light.[1][2] Bouwers came up with a later design that used a cemented doublet to form the meniscus corrector shell to correct chromatic aberration.[11]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Ian Ridpath, "Bouwers telescope", A Dictionary of Astronomy, 1997 first sentence of article[dead link‍]
  2. ^ a b c d Evolution of the Maksutov design
  3. ^ a b Reflecting Telescope Optics: Basic design theory and its historical development, By Ray N. Wilson page 150
  4. ^ Reflecting Telescope Optics, by Ray N. Wilson, page 498. Google Books, pg 498
  5. ^ Mathematics Genealogy Project "Albert Bouwers"
  6. ^ "Tensions within an Industrial Research Laboratory: The Philips Laboratory's X-Ray Department between the Wars", by Kees Boersma, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Boersma Enterprise Soc. 2003; 4: 65-98 Oxford Journals abstract Archived 2009-09-23 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ a b c d "The View in the Dark". Time. June 21, 1963. Archived from the original October 17, 2007.
  8. ^ a b The History of the Telescope By Henry C. King, page 360; google books
  9. ^ "Dmitri Maksutov: The Man and His Telescopes By Eduard Trigubov and Yuri Petrunin". Archived from the original on 2012-02-22. Retrieved 2009-07-23.
  10. ^ Armstrong, E. B., "Geometrical Optics and the Schmidt Camera", Irish Astronomical Journal, vol. 1(2), p. 48
  11. ^ D. J. Schroeder (2000). Astronomical Optics. page 202.

Further reading

[edit]
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