Putting It All Together

In this book, the process of lens design has been dissected. The combination of art and science necessary to successfully carry out a design have been demonstrated. Each request for a design requires a combination of the skills that are brought to be resident in the mind of a skilled designer. The components for success in optical design are acquired through a combination of study and practice. The same is true of any acquired skill.

By now it is evident that optical design requires access to up-to-date computer programs in order to be competitive. It should also be evident that the computer program alone does not produce the design. The algorithms resident in the program are a consequence of the history and ingenuity that have taken place in the field. Each new design task requires a new path to be generated under the guidance of the designer using the computation tools. The successful designer does not just react to a specification provided by the customer, but is an active participant in developing the solution to the problem.

This book has been directed toward supplying a view into the process of design. The introduction to geometrical and physical optics, aberrations, and image evaluation defines the basis for optical design methods. The examples carried out on a number of types of lenses illustrate how the process of design is carried out using different computer design tools.