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'''Albert A. Bouwers''' was an optician from 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 is known for developing many optical technologies as high-level researcher at [[Philips]] research labs. He also independently patenting in 1941 a [[catadioptric]] meniscus telescope design similar to but slightly predating, what became known as the [[Maksutov telescope]].<ref>[http://www.weasner.com/etx/guests/mak/MAKSTO.HTM Evolution of the Maksutov design]</ref><ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=isH9fTnpc7YC&pg=PA152&dq=%22Bouwers+telescope%22 Reflecting Telescope Optics: Basic design theory and its historical development, By Ray N. Wilson page 150]</ref>
'''Albert A. Bouwers''' was an optician from 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 is known for developing and working with [[X-Rays]] and various optical technologies as a high-level researcher at [[Philips]] research labs. He also independently patenting in 1941 a [[catadioptric]] meniscus telescope design similar to but slightly predating, what became known as the [[Maksutov telescope]].<ref>[http://www.weasner.com/etx/guests/mak/MAKSTO.HTM Evolution of the Maksutov design]</ref><ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=isH9fTnpc7YC&pg=PA152&dq=%22Bouwers+telescope%22 Reflecting Telescope Optics: Basic design theory and its historical development, By Ray N. Wilson page 150]</ref>


==Biography==
==Biography==

Revision as of 18:36, 17 August 2009

Albert A. Bouwers was an optician from the Netherlands who lived from 1893–1972.[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 also independently patenting in 1941 a catadioptric meniscus telescope design similar to but slightly predating, what became known as the Maksutov telescope.[2][3]

Biography

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

In February of 1941 Albert Bouwers independently patented a design for a wide field concentric meniscus telescope[4] It was invented in 1941 by Albert Bouwers in The Netherlands in 1941 and Russian optician Dmitri Maksutov in 1944. [8] Some sources suggest Russian optician Dmitri Dmitrievich Maksutov's had Maksutov telescope design by 1941.[9][10] War time secrecy kept Bouwers and Maksutov from knowing about each others designs[11][12] and Bouwers design was not published until after World War II[13]. Bouwers original design (based on the ideas on an earlier concentric telescope, Bernhard Schmidt's "Schmidt Camera".[14]) used a concentric shaped meniscus corrector and therefor was not achromatic and could only be used as an astrographic camera working at a single wavelength of light.[14][1]. Bouwers came up with a later design that used a cemented doublet to form the meniscus corrector shell to correct chromatic aberration.[15]

References

  1. ^ a b Ian Ridpath, "Bouwers telescope", A Dictionary of Astronomy, 1997 first sentence of article Cite error: The named reference "bouwers1" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  2. ^ Evolution of the Maksutov design
  3. ^ Reflecting Telescope Optics: Basic design theory and its historical development, By Ray N. Wilson page 150
  4. ^ a b 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
  7. ^ a b c d "The View in the Dark", Time Magazine; Friday, Jun. 21, 1963 article
  8. ^ Firefly astronomy dictionary By John Woodruff page 135 Google Books
  9. ^ Evolution of the Maksutov design
  10. ^ Reflecting Telescope Optics: Basic design theory and its historical development, By Ray N. Wilson page 150
  11. ^ Dmitri Maksutov: The Man and His Telescopes By Eduard Trigubov and Yuri Petrunin
  12. ^ Cambridge Encyclopedia Vol. 48 "Maksutov telescope - Invention and Design, Applications, Derivative Designs" (article hosted by from encyclopedia.stateuniversity.com)
  13. ^ Armstrong, E. B., "Geometrical Optics and the Schmidt Camera", Irish Astronomical Journal, vol. 1(2), p. 48
  14. ^ a b Evolution of the Maksutov design
  15. ^ D. J. Schroeder, "Astronomical Optics", page 202

Further reading

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