Centennial Book

History

OSA Century of Optics

The Optical Society is proud to present the OSA Century of Optics. The History Book Editors—Paul Kelley, Govind Agrawal, Mike Bass, Jeff Hecht and Carlos Stroud—worked with over 50 authors to create a fascinating history of optics and photonics over the last 100 years.

Beginning around the founding of the Optical Society, the OSA Century of Optics presents a selection of people, events and technologies that were important to the evolution of optics, optical science, optical engineering, and photonics. A number of the chapters are written by the researchers and engineers that were seminal in making the discoveries that are showcased, and the book ends with 8 prominent scientists, including Nobel Prize winner Dr. Steven Chu, speculating about what the next 100 years will bring to the field of optics.

Introduction: Early Technology Carlos Stroud pg. 9
Optics in the Nineteenth Century Jeff Hecht pg. 11
Spectroscopy from 1916 to 1940 Patricia Daukantas pg. 17
Government and Industrial Research Laboratories Carlos Stroud pg. 23
Camera History 1900 to 1940 Todd Gustavson pg. 31
OSA and the Early Days of Vision Research Patricia Daukantas pg. 38
Evolution of Color Science through the Lens of OSA Roy S. Berns pg. 43

Introduction: Advances in Optical Science and Technology Paul Kelley pg. 49
Inventions and Innovations of Edwin Land Jeff Hecht pg. 51
Birth of Fiber-Optic Imaging and Endoscopes Jeff Hecht pg. 53
Xerography: an Invention That Became a Dominant Design Mark B. Myers pg. 57
U.S. Peacetime Strategic Reconnaissance Cameras, 1954–1974: Legacy of James G. Baker and the U-2 Kevin Thompson pg. 64
History of Optical Coatings and OSA before 1960 Angus Macleod pg. 68

Introduction Jeff Hecht pg. 79
The Discovery of the Laser Jeff Hecht pg. 81
Postwar Employment Bubble Bursts Jeff Hecht pg. 85
Gas Lasers—The Golden Decades, 1960–1980 William B. Bridges pg. 88
Discovery of the Tunable Dye Laser Jeff Hecht pg. 94
Remembrances of Spectra-Physics David Hardwick pg. 97
The Birth of the Laser Industry: Overview Jeff Hecht pg. 100
Lasers at American Optical and Laser Incorporated Bill Shiner pg. 101
Solid-State Lasers William Krupke and Robert Byer pg. 103
Semiconductor Diode Lasers: Early History Marshall I. Nathan pg. 107
Lasers and the Growth of Nonlinear Optics Jeff Hecht pg. 114
Early Years of Holography Jeff Hecht pg. 119
History of Laser Materials Processing David A. Belforte pg. 124
Brief History of Barcode Scanning Jay Eastman pg. 128
Developing the Laser Printer Gary Starkweather pg. 134
History of the Optical Disc Paul J. Wehrenberg pg. 138
Interferometric Optical Metrology James C. Wyant pg. 143
Half a Century of Laser Weapons Jeff Hecht pg. 149
KH-9 Hexagon Spy in the Sky Reconnaissance Satellite Phil Pressel pg. 153
CORONA Reconnaissance Satellite Kevin Thompson pg. 157
Laser Isotope Enrichment Jeff Hecht pg. 161
Lasers for Fusion Research John Murray pg. 166
History of Laser Remote Sensing, Laser Radar, and Lidar Dennis K. Killinger pg. 175

Introduction Michael Bass pg. 183
The Shift of Optics R&D Funding and Performers over the Past 100 Years C. Martin Stickley pg. 185
Through a Glass Brightly: Low-Loss Fibers for Optical Communications Donald B. Keck pg. 189
Erbium-Doped Fiber Amplifier: From Flashlamps and Crystal Fibers to 10-Tb/s Communication Michel Digonnet pg. 195
Advent of Continuous-Wave Room-Temperature Operation of Diode Lasers Michael Ettenberg pg. 199
Remembering the Million Hour Laser Richard W. Dixon pg. 203
Terabit-per-Second Fiber Optical Communication Becomes Practical Guifang Li pg. 209
Applied Nonlinear Optics G. H. C. New and J. W. Haus pg. 213
Linear and Nonlinear Laser Spectroscopy M. Bass and S.C. Rand pg. 218
Optical Trapping and Manipulation of Small Particles by Laser Light Pressure Arthur Ashkin pg. 223
High-Power, Reliable Diode Lasers and Arrays Dan Botez pg. 227
Tunable Solid-State Lasers Peter F. Moulton pg. 232
Ultrashort-Pulse Lasers Erich P. Ippen pg. 237
Ground-Based Telescopes and Instruments James Breckinridge pg. 244
Space Telescopes for Astronomy James Breckinridge pg. 249
Contact Lenses for Vision Correction: A Journey from Rare to Commonplace Ian Cox pg. 253
Excimer Laser Surgery: Laying the Foundation for Laser Refractive Surgery James J. Wynne pg. 257
Intraocular Lenses: A More Permanent Alternative Ian Cox pg. 262
Spectacles: Past, Present, and Future William Charman pg. 265
Major Milestones in Liquid Crystal Display Development Shin-Tson Wu pg. 269

Introduction Govind Agrawal pg. 277
Birth and Growth of the Fiber-Optic Communications Industry Jeff Hecht pg. 278
Telecommunications Bubble Pumps Up the Optical Fiber Communications Conference Jeff Hecht pg. 282
The Evolution of Optical Communications Networks since 1990 Rod C. Alferness pg. 287
Integrated Photonics Radhakrishnan Nagarajan pg. 293
New Wave Microstructured Optical Fibers Philip Russell pg. 297
Ultrafast-Laser Technology from the 1990s to Present Wayne H. Knox pg. 304
Biomedical Optics: In Vivo and In Vitro Applications Gregory Faris pg. 308
Novel Optical Materials in the Twenty-First Century David J. Hagan and Steven C. Moss pg. 315
Quantum Information Science: Emerging No More Carlton M. Caves pg. 320

Far Future of Fibers Philip Russell pg. 327
View of the Future of Light Steven Chu pg. 329
The 100-Year Future for Optics Joesph H. Eberly pg. 331
Future of Energy Eli Yablonovitch pg. 332
Future of Displays Byoungho Lee pg. 333
Biomedical Optics—The Next 100 Years Rox Anderson pg. 334
Lasers and Laser Applications Robert L. Byer pg. 336
Optical Communications: The Next 100 Years Alan Willner pg. 338

INDEX pg. viii Table

History

OSA Century of Optics

INTRODUCTION Paul Kelley

PRE–1940 (This is a compilation of all articles in this section.)

1941–1959 (This is a compilation of all articles in this section.)

1960–1974 (This is a compilation of all articles in this section.)

1975–1990 (This is a compilation of all articles in this section.)

1991–PRESENT (This is a compilation of all articles in this section.)

THE FUTURE (This is a compilation of all articles in this section.)