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Turning 100

In 2016, a year long celebration marked OSA's Centennial highlighting 100 years of bright ideas, smart innovation and ground-breaking applications driven by more than 270,000 scientists, students, engineers and business leaders in the field.  This was a unique opportunity to share this milestone with its global membership and with the optics and photonics community at large.  We launched over 25 new products and services that helped drive meaningful results.  Look back at our first 100 years, and the achievements of our members and get a glimpse at the bright future in optics and photonics to come.

Explore our Celebration


Turning 100

Beginning around the founding of the Optical Society, the OSA Century of Optics presents a selection of people, events and technologies that were important to the evolution of optics, optical science, optical engineering, and photonics. A number of the chapters are written by the researchers and engineers that were seminal in making the discoveries that are showcased, and the book ends with 8 prominent scientists, including Nobel Prize winner Dr. Steven Chu, speculating about what the next 100 years will bring to the field of optics.

Read the Full Book

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