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10 May 2012
OSA and SPIE Honor R. Barry Johnson with 2012 Goodman Book Writing Award
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Lyndsay Meyer
The Optical Society
+1.202.416.1435
lmeyer@osa.org
Stacey Crockett
SPIE
+1 360.676.3290
staceyc@spie.org
OSA and SPIE Honor R. Barry Johnson with 2012 Goodman Book Writing Award
WASHINGTON, D.C., and BELLINGHAM, WA, May 10 - The Optical Society (OSA) and SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, announced this week that R. Barry Johnson of Alabama A&M University is the recipient of the 2012 Joseph W. Goodman Book Writing Award for Lens Design Fundamentals, Second Edition, a substantially revised and expanded update to the late Rudolf Kingslake’s 1978 First Edition.
The Goodman Book Writing Award is a biennial award funded by a personal gift from Joseph W. and Hon Mai Goodman. It recognizes a recent and outstanding book in the field of optics and photonics that has contributed significantly to research, teaching, or industry. This year, the award will be presented to Johnson at an OSA or SPIE conference.
In the new edition of Lens Design Fundamentals, Johnson extended the principles laid out by Kingslake – a mentor of Johnson -- in the original edition by modernizing the examples and updating the material. He expanded the content by 50 percent and increased the number of figures from 200 to 300.
The joint OSA/SPIE award selection committee cited the book as holding a unique place in optics literature, and noted that it will serve as an indispensable resource for the next generation of lens designers. Published in 2010 by Academic Press and co-published by SPIE Press, Lens Design Fundamentals, Second Edition, sold more than 1,200 hardcover copies in the first year. It is now in its second printing and is also available as an e-book.
“All of this year’s nominees authored high-quality, well-written works. It is encouraging to see such a breadth of exceptional new optics and photonics texts being published,” said Julie Bentley, chair of the Joseph W. Goodman Book Writing Award Committee for 2012. “Ultimately the committee members agreed that Lens Design Fundamentals, Second Edition was the right choice. Johnson skillfully maintains the quality and character of Kingslake’s original work while updating the material for the next generation of researchers and engineers.”
The selection committee reviewed a number of nominations, taking into account the topics being considered, the logical sequence of these topics, the clarity of presentation and the impact the book has had on research, teaching, or the optics and photonics business community. In particular, the awards panel noted such measures of impact as number of citations, the degree of adoption for coursework, and number of copies sold.
To be eligible for the award, books must be recently published; should be authored technical books rather than edited compilations, handbooks, reviews or popular science books; must currently be in print, readily available from the publisher and suppliers and; must be available in English.
About OSA
Uniting more than 130,000 professionals from more than 175 countries, the Optical Society (OSA) brings together the global optics and photonics community through programs and initiatives. Since 1916, OSA has worked to advance the common interests of the field providing educational resources to the scientists, engineers and business leaders who work in the field by promoting the science of light and the advanced technologies made possible by optics and photonics. OSA publications, events, technical groups and programs foster optics knowledge and scientific collaboration among all those with an interest in optics and photonics. For more information visit www.osa.org.
About SPIE
SPIE is the international society for optics and photonics, a not-for-profit organization founded in 1955 to advance light-based technologies. The Society serves nearly 225,000 constituents from approximately 150 countries, offering conferences, continuing education, books, journals, and a digital library in support of interdisciplinary information exchange, professional growth, and patent precedent. SPIE provided over $2.5 million in support of education and outreach programs in 2011. See www.SPIE.org for more information.
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