Up for auction a RARE! "Optical Scientist" John D. Strong Hand Signed Announcement Dated 1978.

ES-5055

John Donovan Strong was a professor

of Physics and Astronomy from 1967 to 1975 and served as the head of the

laboratory of astrophysics and physical meteorology. Strong, one of the world’s foremost optical

scientists, was known for being the first to detect water vapor in the

atmosphere of Venus and for developing a number of innovations in optical

devices, ranging from improved telescope mirrors to anti-reflective coatings

for optical elements and diffraction gratings. Born in Lawrence, Kansas in

1905, Strong received degrees from the University of Kansas (BA 1926) and

the University of Michigan (M.S.,

1928, Ph.D., 1930). After twelve years at Caltech and wartime research at

Harvard on infrared systems, Strong became professor and director of the

Astrophysics and Physical Meteorology Laboratories at Johns Hopkins University

in 1946, where, among many other projects, he conducted research on balloon

astronomy for the Office of Naval Research (ONR). Strong published hundreds of

papers throughout his career and was author of Procedures in Experimental

Physics, a standard physics textbook for many years. Strong served as president

of the American Optical Association in 1959 and patented numerous inventions

for optics in spectroscopy as well as golf (see US Patent no. 3720467). Strong died in 1992.