Abstract
Sturm’s writings on geometrical optics consist of only four papers in all, their publication evenly spread over the span of his career. The first two, published in 1824 and 1826, discuss the theory of plane caustics. The third paper, an extension of his work on plane caustics to spatial caustics was published in 1838. Finally, a paper on the physiology of the eye appeared in 1845. It is in this paper that Sturm introduces the description of the so-called infinitely thin pencil often associated with his name. The same publication also contains a much simplified derivation of the formulas he had obtained in his third paper. The Royal Society Catalogue of Scientific Papers also lists a publication in English on cylindrical lenses of 1854 among Sturm’s papers. Most likely, however, this note was written by a namesake.1
“Remarks on the Construction of Telescopes with Simple Cylindrical Glasses,“ Monthly Notices of the Astronomical Society, XV (1854–1855), pp. 223–4. The note was communicated by John Lee, future president of the Society. It discusses a lens grinding machine patented by the author, who is only referred to as Mr. Sturm. According to information provided by the patent office at the British Library, one Salomon Sturm of London, «formerly of Vienna, in the Kingdom of Austria.» applied for a patent of such a machine on November 11, 1853. The patent was granted on April 11th, 1854.
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Atzema, E.J. (2009). Charles François Sturm’s Writings on Optics. In: Pont, JC. (eds) Collected Works of Charles François Sturm. Birkhäuser Basel. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7643-7990-2_4
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