Ernst Abbe – Innovator of Applied Optics and Social Reformer

100 years ago Ernst Abbe (1840-1905), the innovator of applied optics and social reformer, died in Jena. Without Abbe’s work there probably would be no fabrication of glass in Mainz, no development of optics in Jena, no manufacturing of semiconductor lenses in Oberkochen and no fabrication of spectacle lenses in Aalen. Abbe’s enormous creative scientific productivity resulted in many important inventions and developments, among them instruments for measuring lens and material characteristics like focal length, radius of curvature, thickness, refractive index and shape of aspheric surfaces. On request of Carl Zeiss, the owner of a small optical shop for microscopes in Jena, Abbe made extensive calculations for predetermining the optical behaviour of complex microscope optics. By experimental investigations he found the significance of the “dark space” in the formation of an image. He developed fundamental formulas for the optical resolution and the sine condition. In memory of Ernst Abbe the presentation will give an overview on his work in the field of applied optics as well as on the establishment of the Carl Zeiss Foundation and his pioneer work in social reforms.