Classical Lense Design 의 선구자이신 Hilda and Rudolf Kingslake 두 분이 지난 2월에 돌아가셨군요. 사진기에 관심이 많으신 분들은 아시겠지만 Rudolf Kingslake 는 Eastman Kodak 에서 일하면서 University of Rochester 에서 Lense Design 에 대해 가르친 학자입니다.

 A History of the Photographic Lens, A History of the Photographic Objective 등의 명저를 남겼죠. 광학디자인 공부하시는 분들은 아마 다들 한번쯤 읽어보신 책일것입니다.

 아래 내용은 SPIE Membership news 3 월호에 실린 내용입니다. 두 분의 업적은 http://oemagazine.com/fromTheMagazine/jul02/kingslake.html 에 가서 확인해보시길. Robert Shannon 도 한마디 했군요.


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Hilda Kingslake, 1902-2003
Rudolf Kingslake, 1903-2003
25 February 2003


Rudolf and Hilda Kingslake in San Diego, August 1976.
 
Hilda Conrady Kingslake died on February 14, two days before her 101st birthday. Not long afterwards, her husband of 73 years, optics pioneer Rudolf Kingslake, died on February 25.

Hilda Kingslake was the daughter of A.E. Conrady, professor of optical design at London's Imperial College where both Hilda and her future husband, Rudolf Kingslake, were students. They were married in 1929, before emigrating to the United States where Rudolf had accepted a position at the University of Rochester's new Institute of Optics.

Former SPIE President and University of Rochester Provost Brian Thompson pointed out that university President Rush Rhees was astute in 1929. Although he did not hire Hilda, "I am sure that he knew that he was getting a package deal since Hilda had already three years of industrial experience and had published several papers."

Hilda Kingslake had published extensively. Thompson noted that Hilda was "perhaps best known for her knowledge and writing in the organizational history of our field, particularly the 50-year history of the Optical Society of America and the 50-year history of The Institute of Optics."

Rudolf Kingslake was an assistant professor of geometrical optics and lens design at the Institute of Optics until 1935 when he became an associate professor. From 1936 to 1937 he served as an exchange professor at Imperial College. He then began what was to be a 25-year career with Kodak as a lens designer. Within two years he became head of the lens design department and in 1956 was appointed director of optical design and optical engineering. During his career at Kodak, he also continued his association with the U of R as a part-time associate professor. He received his DSc from Imperial College in 1950.

He was the author of several landmark books, including Lenses in Photography (Garden City Books, 1951), Lens Design Fundamentals (Academic Press, 1978), Optical System Design (Academic Press, 1983), and A History of the Photographic Lens (Academic Press, 1989). He is also the author of Optics in Photography (SPIE Press, 1992). He published A History of the Photographic Objective, which SPIE Fellow and Past President Warren Smith, a former Kingslake student, described as a "must-read." Kingslake is also the author of at least 70 scientific papers.
Hilda and Rudolf also published together extensively; those publications include topics such as "A New Refractometer for the Near Infrared," published in the Journal of the Optical Society of America in 1937; "Alexander Eugene Conrady," published in Applied Optics in 1966; and "The Contributions of Optics to Modern Technology and a Buoyant Economy," published in Optica Acta in 1968.

In honor of Kingslake, SPIE established The Rudolf Kingslake Medal and Prize in 1974, awarded annually in recognition of the most noteworthy original paper to appear in SPIE's journal, Optical Engineering, on the theoretical or experimental aspects of optical engineering.

[More information on the Kingslakes' accomplishments appeared in the July 2002 issue of oemagazine.]

The Kingslakes are survived by their daughter-in-law, Joan Kingslake, of Pennsylvania. Services will be private. Contributions in the Kingslakes' memory may be made to:

The Institute of Optics
University of Rochester
Wilmot 123, River Campus, Box 270186
Rochester, NY, 14627 USA

or

George Eastman House
900 East Avenue
Rochester, NY 14607 USA

To light a candle of condolence, please visit www.anthonychapels.com.