In the Zeiss Optical Museum in Jena, Germany, a set of prototype objective lenses from the late 19th century is on display. These optical components are not only scientific tools, but also the most exquisite works of art during the Industrial Revolution, and their aesthetic value has quietly changed mankind's aesthetic perception of the microscopic world.
Objective lens manufacturing is an art born in flames. Kenji Yamamoto, the master craftsman of Obara Optics in Japan, maintains the tradition of heating the crucible with cherry charcoal to this day. When optical glass melts at 1400°C, he must draw on three decades of experience to judge whether the flowing 'optical honey' has reached the perfect viscosity. This combination of skill and intuition gives each piece of objective glass a unique 'optical fingerprint'. When viewed under polarised light, these lenses show a unique stress pattern, like an abstract expressionist painting. The coating technology of modern objective lenses is a magic of light. German engineer Schmidt in front of the vacuum coating machine, as the colourist like a precise control of the thickness of magnesium fluoride vapour deposition. Hundreds of nanometer-sized films are stacked on the surface of the lens, selectively reflecting specific wavelengths of light and producing a rainbow of interference colours. This 'optical iridescence' inspired the designers of the Bauhaus school to create the 'Optical Decorator' style. Diatom micrography is the most intuitive display of the aesthetics of the objective lens. At the end of the nineteenth century, the British photographer Dutton used achromatic objective lenses to take photographs of diatoms, which caused a sensation when they were exhibited at the Royal Society in London. Copies of these micrographs are still kept in the studio of the Viennese Secessionist master Klimt.
Let's choose one of the objectives from plan achromatic objective, infinity corrected objective, 10x objective lens, etc. and observe the beauty of this together.
