History of Lens

The word lens comes from the Latin name of the lentil, because a double-convex
lens is lentil-shaped. The genus of the lentil plant is Lens, and the most commonly
eaten species is Lens culinaris. The lentil plant also gives its name to a geometric
figure.
The oldest lens artifact is the Nimrud lens, which is over three thousand years old,
dating back to ancient Assyria. avid !rewster proposed that it may have been
used as a magnifying glass, or as a burning-glass to start fires by concentrating
sunlight. Assyrian craftsmen made intricate engravings, and could have used such
a lens in their work. Another early reference to magnification dates back to
ancient "gyptian hieroglyphs in the #th century !$, which depict %simple glass
meniscal lenses%.
The earliest written records of lenses date to Ancient &reece, with Aristophanes'
play The Clouds ()*) !$+ mentioning a burning-glass (a biconvex lens used to
focus the sun's rays to produce fire+. ,ome scholars argue that the archeological
evidence indicates that there was widespread use of lenses in anti-uity, spanning
several millennia. ,uch lenses were used by artisans for fine work, and for
authenticating seal impressions. The writings of .liny the "lder (*/012+ show that
burning-glasses were known to the 3oman "mpire, and mentions what is arguably
the earliest written reference to a corrective lens4 Nero was said to watch the
gladiatorial games using an emerald (presumably concave to correct for myopia,
though the reference is vague+. !oth .liny and ,eneca the 5ounger (/ !$067+
described the magnifying effect of a glass globe filled with water.
"xcavations at the 8iking harbour town of 9r:;el, &otland, ,weden discovered in
<222 the rock crystal 8isby lenses, produced by turning on pole lathes at 9r:;el in
the <<th to <*th century, with an imaging -uality comparable to that of <27=s
aspheric lenses. The 8iking lenses were capable of concentrating enough sunlight
to ignite fires.
!etween the <<th and </th century %reading stones% were invented. >ften used by
monks to assist in illuminating manuscripts, these were primitive plano-convex
lenses initially made by cutting a glass sphere in half. As the stones were
experimented with, it was slowly understood that shallower lenses magnified
more effectively.
Lenses came into widespread use in "urope with the invention of spectacles,
probably in ?taly in the <*#=s. This was the start of the optical industry of
grinding and polishing lenses for spectacles, first in 8enice and 9lorence in the
thirteenth century, and later in the spectacle making centers in both the
Netherlands and &ermany. ,pectacle makers created improved types of lenses for
the correction of vision based more on empirical knowledge gained from
observing the effects of the lenses (probably without the knowledge of the
rudimentary optical theory of the day+. The practical development and
experimentation with lenses led to the invention of the compound optical
microscope around <727, and the refracting telescope in <6=#, both of which
appeared in the spectacle making centers in the Netherlands.
@ith the invention of the telescope and microscope there was a great deal of
experimentation with lens shapes in the <1th and early <#th century trying to
correct chromatic errors seen in lenses. >pticians tried to construct lenses of
varying forms of curvature, wrongly assuming errors arose from defects in the
spherical figure of their surfaces.

>ptical theory on refraction and
experimentation was showing no single element lens could bring all colors to a
focus. This led to the invention of the compound achromatic lens by $hester
Aoore Ball in "ngland in <1//, an invention also claimed by fellow "nglishman
Cohn ollond in a <17# patent.
Construction of simple lenses
A lens is an optical device which transmits and refracts light, converging or
diverging the beam. A simple lens consists of a single optical element. A
compound lens is an array of simple lenses (elements+ with a common axis, the
use of multiple elements allows more optical aberrations to be corrected than is
possible with a single element. Lenses are typically made of glass or transparent
plastic. "lements which refract electromagnetic radiation outside the visual
spectrum are also called lenses, for instance, a microwave lens can be made from
paraffin wax. The variant spelling lense is sometimes seen. @hile it is listed as an
alternative spelling in some dictionaries, most mainstream dictionaries do not list
it as acceptable.
Aost lenses are spherical lenses4 their two surfaces are parts of the surfaces of
spheres, with the lens axis ideally perpendicular to both surfaces. "ach surface can
be convex (bulging outwards from the lens+, concave (depressed into the lens+, or
planar (flat+. The line ;oining the centres of the spheres making up the lens
surfaces is called the axis of the lens. Typically the lens axis passes through the
physical centre of the lens, because of the way they are manufactured. Lenses may
be cut or ground after manufacturing to give them a different shape or siDe. The
lens axis may then not pass through the physical centre of the lens.
Toric or sphero-cylindrical lenses have surfaces with two different radii of
curvature in two orthogonal planes. They have a different focal power in different
meridians. This is a form of deliberate astigmatism.
Aore complex are aspheric lenses. These are lenses where one or both surfaces
have a shape that is neither spherical nor cylindrical. ,uch lenses can produce
images with much less aberration than standard simple lenses. These in turn
evolved into freeform (digitalEadaptiveEcorrected curve+ spectacle lenses , where
up to *=,=== ray paths are calculated from the eye to the image taking into
account the position of the eye and the differing back vertex distance of the lens
surface and its pantoscopic tilt and face form angle. The lens surface(s+ are
digitally adapted at nanometer levels (normally by a diamond stylus+ to eliminate
spherical aberration, coma and obli-ue astigmatism. This type of lens design
almost completely fulfills the sagittal and tangential image shell re-uirements first
described by Tscherning in <2*7 and further described by @ollaston and >stwalt.
These advanced designs of spectacle lens can improve the visual performance by
up to 1=F particularly in the periphery.
Types of simple lenses
Lenses are classified by the curvature of the two optical surfaces. A lens is
biconvex (or double convex, or ;ust convex+ if both surfaces are convex. ?f both
surfaces have the same radius of curvature, the lens is equiconvex. A lens with
two concave surfaces is biconcave (or ;ust concave+. ?f one of the surfaces is flat,
the lens is plano-convex or plano-concave depending on the curvature of the other
surface. A lens with one convex and one concave side is convex-concave or
meniscus. ?t is this type of lens that is most commonly used in corrective lenses.
?f the lens is biconvex or plano-convex, a collimated beam of light travelling
parallel to the lens axis and passing through the lens will be converged (or
focused+ to a spot on the axis, at a certain distance behind the lens (known as the
focal length+. ?n this case, the lens is called a positive or converging lens.
?f the lens is biconcave or plano-concave, a collimated beam of light passing
through the lens is diverged (spread+G the lens is thus called a negative or
diverging lens. The beam after passing through the lens appears to be emanating
from a particular point on the axis in front of the lensG the distance from this point
to the lens is also known as the focal length, although it is negative with respect to
the focal length of a converging lens.
$onvex-concave (meniscus+ lenses can be either positive or negative, depending
on the relative curvatures of the two surfaces. A negative meniscus lens has a
steeper concave surface and will be thinner at the centre than at the periphery.
$onversely, a positive meniscus lens has a steeper convex surface and will be
thicker at the centre than at the periphery. An ideal thin lens with two surfaces of
e-ual curvature would have Dero optical power, meaning that it would neither
converge nor diverge light. All real lenses have a nonDero thickness, however,
which affects the optical power. To obtain exactly Dero optical power, a meniscus
lens must have slightly une-ual curvatures to account for the effect of the lens'
thickness.
There are * different kinds of simple lenses, they are 4
Convex Lenses
$onvex lenses are known as many names, being also called positive lenses, plus
lenses, converging lenses, and condensers. $onvex lenses are fat in the middle and
skinny on the edges. There are three main types of convex lenses4 plano-convex
lenses, double-convex lenses, and concavo-convex lenses. $oncavo-convex lenses
have another name-positive meniscus.
The Hinds of $onvex Lenses
The three kinds of lenses arenIt there merely to confuse you. They are all
different. The plano-convex lenses are flat on one side and curved outward on the
other and get used in pro;ectors. ouble-convex lenses have two outward-curving
edges and are basically magnifying glasses, and a number of them are used
together in microscopes. The concavo-convex lenses are curved in on one side and
have a more outward curve on the other. They correct hyperopia (farsightedness+
and presbyopia. $onvex lenses can be thought as two rounded prisms ;oined at
their bottoms. Light will get refracted to the base of a convex lens, which is in the
center of the lens, so the light will eventually focus on one spot. This spot is called
the focal point.
Bow a convex lens bends light
Concave Lenses
>pposite to convex lenses, a concave lens is skinny in the middle and wide on the
outside. $oncave lenses also have many names. They include negative lenses,
minus lenses, and diverging lenses. There are also three types of concave lenses
that resemble their convex counterparts. .lano-concave lenses have a flat surface
and one inward curving side. They are one of the many lenses found in cameras.
ouble-concave lenses have two inward curving edges and are used as reducing
glasses to shrink the appearance of ob;ects. $onvexo-concave lenses (or negative
meniscus+ have one outward curving edge with one greater inward curving edge.

Almost everything about concave lenses is the opposite of convex lenses.
Therefore, since the base of the concave lens is on the edges, the light gets
refracted there. This will spread out the light, and it will grow wider and wider
and wider.
The kinds of concave lenses
Bow a concave lens bends light