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.