Achim Leistner | |
|---|---|
 Achim Leistner at the Australian Centre for Precision Optics, holding a 1 kg (2.2 lb), single-crystal silicon sphere for the Avogadro project. | |
| Known for | Avogadro project |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Optics |
Achim Leistner is an Australian optician of German origin.[1] During his retirement, he was asked to join the Avogadro project to craft a silicon sphere with high smoothness.[2][1]
Leistner studied optics at Optik Carl Zeiss in Jena, Germany, and in 1953 qualified as a precision optical craftsman. He moved to Australia in 1957, and worked in CSIRO on optical fabrication methods.[3]
In addition to precision instruments, Leistner uses his hands to feel for irregularities in the roundness of the sphere.[1] The research team has called his extraordinary sense of touch "atomic feeling".[4] As a result the sphere is the roundest man-made object ever. If it were scaled to the size of the Earth, it would have a high point of only 2.4 m (7 ft 10 in) above "sea level".[Note 1]
- ^ a b c Keats, Jonathon. "The Search for a More Perfect Kilogram". Wired. Vol. 19, no. 10. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
- ^ Powell, Devin (1 July 2008). "Roundest Objects in the World Created". New Scientist. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
- ^ "Achim J. Leistner | Optica". www.optica.org. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
- ^ Episode 2: Mass and Moles. Precision: The Measure of All Things. BBC Four. 4 July 2014. 48.4 minutes in.
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