Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2008/04/25

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Subject: [Leica] noctilux factoid of the day
From: reid at mejac.palo-alto.ca.us (Brian Reid)
Date: Fri Apr 25 05:41:26 2008
References: <20080425020248.GB20679@panix.com> <00d401c8a67b$8fb8cba0$af2a62e0$@net><FD02EE92-5991-4CBA-AB8C-FE0A8775AAB1@comcast.net> <00da01c8a694$b1727ca0$145775e0$@net> <014b01c8a699$ec68d700$6101a8c0@jimnichols> <011a01c8a6cc$a7678e20$f636aa60$@net>

I got my first job programming computers in October 1966.
There were plenty of commercial design engineers using the computers around 
me. By 1970, when I started doing NASA programming (to help keep me from 
being drafted into the Vietnam war), there were more commercial design uses 
of the computers around me than other uses. Ray tracing programs were very 
common then; I remember in 1967 helping somebody use a CalComp plotter to 
draw the output of ray tracing for a Fresnel design.

I think it's entirely possible that computers were used in leading-edge 
commercial lens design in the early 1960s.



In reply to: Message from shino at panix.com (Rei Shinozuka) ([Leica] noctilux factoid of the day)
Message from red735i at earthlink.net (Frank Filippone) ([Leica] noctilux factoid of the day)
Message from len-1 at comcast.net (Leonard Taupier) ([Leica] noctilux factoid of the day)
Message from red735i at earthlink.net (Frank Filippone) ([Leica] noctilux factoid of the day)
Message from jhnichols at bellsouth.net (Jim Nichols) ([Leica] noctilux factoid of the day)
Message from red735i at earthlink.net (Frank Filippone) ([Leica] noctilux factoid of the day)