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Everything about Lens

Optical device which transmits and refracts light

A lens is a transmissive optical device that focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (elements), usually arranged along a common axis. Lenses are made from materials such as glass or plastic and are ground, polished, or molded to the required shape. A lens can focus light to form an image, unlike a prism, which refracts light without focusing. Devices that similarly focus or disperse waves and radiation other than visible light are also called "lenses", such as microwave lenses, electron lenses, acoustic lenses, or explosive lenses. Wikipedia →

🧭 Start here: a 6-step reading path

  1. Read the overview: LensA 5-minute orientation
  2. Skim a recent paper: Charging processes in lithium-oxygen batteries unraveled through the lens of the distribution of relaxation timesInfluential work since 2022
  3. Pick up a classic book: A Short Course in PhotographyThe most-reprinted book on the subject
  4. Read the landmark paper: Negative Refraction Makes a Perfect LensCited 10,755 times
  5. Go sideways: Focal lengthA closely related topic
  6. Go sideways: Spherical aberrationA closely related topic

📖 Definitions

Noun An object, usually made of glass, that focuses or defocuses the light that passes through it.

Noun A device which focuses or defocuses other waves or radiation, such as microwave radiation, electron beams, sound waves (acoustic lenses), or explosions (explosive lenses).

Noun A convex shape bounded by two circular arcs, joined at their endpoints, the corresponding concave shape being a lune.

Noun The transparent crystalline structure in the eye.

🗂️ The subject at a glance

  1. History
  2. Construction of simple lenses
  3. Imaging properties
  4. Aberrations
  5. Compound lenses
  6. Non spherical types
  7. Uses

🏆 Landmark papers (most cited)

🆕 Influential since 2022

📚 Books worth reading

Ranked by number of editions on Open Library, a rough measure of how lasting a book is.

🔗 Related topics