In this episode, Bob Parks discusses his background in optics. For those who are not aware, Bob has been a key figure in the world of optics, being a force to establish using an auto-stigmatic microscope for all sorts of alignment and assembly of optical systems (and that is only a small portion of his contributions). Bob explains how he entered optics, his early experiences at the Kodak company and how rich that experience was, his work on the Hubble Investigatory committee, and his work involved in creating the Point Source Microscope. We also explore recent innovations for using the PSM, and how computer generated holograms tie into these potentials. Bob is truly and incredible optical scientist, and was one of my favorite guests to interview. We only scratch the surface of topics I would like to discuss this episode but I highly recommend it.
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Resources:
- Optical Perspectives Group LLC Bob Parks optical engineering company.
- Alignment with Axicon Plane Gratins by Robert Parks
- Aligning Reflecting Optics with Bessel Beams by Robert Parks
- The Autostigmatic Microscope and How It Works by Robert Parks
- Hubble Space Telescope Secondary Mirror Vertex Radius/conic Constant Test Final Technical Report by Robert Parks
- A Canticle for Leibowitz, an excellent Sci-Fi book exploring meaning, ethics, and science.