Albert Bouwers
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 is lesser known for 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
A. Bouwers made a prototype by August 1940. [8] By February of 1941 Albert Bouwers independently patented a design for a wide field concentric meniscus telescope[4] It was invented in 1940 [9] by Albert Bouwers in The Netherlands and Russian optician Dmitri Maksutov in 1944. [9] Some sources suggest Russian optician Dmitri Dmitrievich Maksutov's had Maksutov telescope design by 1941.[10][11] War time secrecy kept Bouwers and Maksutov from knowing about each others designs[12][13] and Bouwers design was not published until after World War II[14]. Bouwers original design (based on the ideas on an earlier concentric telescope, Bernhard Schmidt's "Schmidt Camera".[15]) 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.[15][1]. Bouwers came up with a later design that used a cemented doublet to form the meniscus corrector shell to correct chromatic aberration.[16]
References
- ^ 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).
- ^ Evolution of the Maksutov design
- ^ Reflecting Telescope Optics: Basic design theory and its historical development, By Ray N. Wilson page 150
- ^ a b Reflecting Telescope Optics, by Ray N. Wilson, page 498. Google Books, pg 498
- ^ Mathematics Genealogy Project "Albert Bouwers"
- ^ "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
- ^ a b c d "The View in the Dark", Time Magazine; Friday, Jun. 21, 1963 article
- ^ The History of the Telescope By Henry C. King, page 360; google books
- ^ a b Firefly astronomy dictionary By John Woodruff page 135 Google Books
- ^ Evolution of the Maksutov design
- ^ Reflecting Telescope Optics: Basic design theory and its historical development, By Ray N. Wilson page 150
- ^ Dmitri Maksutov: The Man and His Telescopes By Eduard Trigubov and Yuri Petrunin
- ^ Cambridge Encyclopedia Vol. 48 "Maksutov telescope - Invention and Design, Applications, Derivative Designs" (article hosted by from encyclopedia.stateuniversity.com)
- ^ Armstrong, E. B., "Geometrical Optics and the Schmidt Camera", Irish Astronomical Journal, vol. 1(2), p. 48
- ^ a b Evolution of the Maksutov design
- ^ D. J. Schroeder, "Astronomical Optics", page 202
Further reading
- Google Books: "Albert Bouwers"
- ING - Den Haag. Bronvermelding: H.A.M. Snelders, 'Bouwers, Albert (1893-1972)', in Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland Google Dutch to English translation
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