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Saturday, August 10, 2019

How One Mathematician Solved a 2,000-Year-Old Camera Lens Problem | Technology - Popular Mechanics

David Grossman, staff writer for explains, It's frustrated photographers and scientists for centuries.

Photo: CSA ImagesGetty Images
It's a problem that has plagued photography since its creation: soft edges. No matter how high-quality the camera, math has dictated that the curve of optical lenses would always be slightly softer than the center. At least, that was the problem until Rafael G. González-Acuña, a doctoral student at Mexico’s Tecnológico de Monterrey, up and solved it.

The problem goes back thousands of years to the Greek mathematician Diocles. A (far less famous) contemporary of Aristotle, Diocles wrote a book titled Burning Mirrors. In that book, Diocles described what would become known as a "spherical aberration."...

But Héctor A. Chaparro-Romo, a doctoral student at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), had a feeling that the problem could be solved. So he began working on a solution three years ago, and eventually invited González-Acuña to solve it with him.