Joseph Petzval

Joseph Petzval
Born(1807-01-06)6 January 1807
Szepesbéla/Zipser Bela, Kingdom of Hungary, Austrian Empire (today Spišská Belá, Slovakia)
Died17 September 1891(1891-09-17) (aged 84)
Vienna, Austria-Hungary
NationalitySlovak[1][2][3] Hungarian
CitizenshipKingdom of Hungary[1][2][3]
Known forPetzval field curvature
Contributions to geometrical optics, photography, cinematography
Scientific career
FieldsPhysics
InstitutionsUniversity of Budapest
University of Vienna

Joseph Petzval[4] (6 January 1807 – 17 September 1891[5]) was a mathematician, inventor, and physicist best known for his work in optics. He was born in the town of Szepesbéla in the Kingdom of Hungary (in German: Zipser Bela, now Spišská Belá in Slovakia).[1][2][3][6]

Petzval studied and later lectured at the Institutum Geometricum (currently Budapest University of Technology and Economics) in Buda (today part of Budapest). He headed the Institute of Practical Geometry and Hydrology/Architecture between 1841 and 1848. Later in life, he accepted an appointment to a chair of mathematics at the University of Vienna. Petzval became a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in 1873.

Petzval is considered to be one of the main founders of geometrical optics, modern photography and cinematography. Among his inventions are the Petzval portrait lens and opera glasses, both still in common use today. He is also credited with the discovery of the Laplace transform[citation needed] and is also known for his extensive work on aberration in optical systems.

  1. ^ a b c Lance Day; Ian McNeil (1996). Biographical dictionary of the history of technology. Taylor & Francis. p. 554. ISBN 9780415060424. Retrieved 2009-05-16.
  2. ^ a b c Leonard Gaunt (1969). The Focal encyclopedia of photography. Michigan University: Focal Press. p. 1076.
  3. ^ a b c Michael R. Peres; Mark Osterman; Grant B. Romer; Nancy M. Stuart; J. Tomas Lopez (2007). The Concise Focal Encyclopedia of Photography: From the First Photo on Paper to the Digital Revolution. Focal Press. p. 28. ISBN 9780240809984. Retrieved 2009-05-17.
  4. ^ German: Josef Maximilian Petzval; Hungarian: Petzvál József Miksa; Slovak: Jozef Maximilián Petzval
  5. ^ Wiener Zeitung, 23 September 1891, p. 11
  6. ^ Clarke, Graham (1997). Oxford history of art; The photograph. Vol. 1. Oxford University Press. p. 239. ISBN 9780192842008.