John Dollond (30 November 1761) was an English
optician
An optician is an individual who fits glasses or contact lenses by filling a refractive prescription from an optometrist or ophthalmologist. They are able to translate and adapt ophthalmic prescriptions, dispense products, and work with acces ...
, known for his successful optics business and his patenting and commercialization of
achromatic doublets.
Biography
Dollond was the son of a
Huguenot
The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...
refugee, a
silk
Silk is a natural fiber, natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving, woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is most commonly produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoon (silk), c ...
-weaver at
Spitalfields
Spitalfields () is an area in London, England and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in East London and situated in the East End of London, East End. Spitalfields is formed around Commercial Street, London, Commercial Stre ...
, London, where he was born. He followed his father's trade, but found time to acquire a knowledge of
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
,
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
,
mathematics
Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...
,
physics
Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...
,
anatomy
Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old scien ...
and other subjects. In 1752 he abandoned silk-weaving and joined his eldest son,
Peter Dollond (1731–1820), who in 1750 had started in business as a maker of optical instruments; this business went on to become
Dollond & Aitchison. His reputation grew rapidly, and in 1761 he was appointed optician to the king.
In 1758 he published an "Account of some experiments concerning the different refrangibility of light", describing the experiments that led him to the achievement with which his name is specially associated, the discovery of a means of constructing
achromatic lens
An achromatic lens or achromat is a lens (optics), lens that is designed to limit the effects of chromatic aberration, chromatic and spherical aberration. Achromatic lenses are corrected to bring two wavelengths (typically red and blue) into ...
es by the combination of
crown
A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, parti ...
and
flint glasses, reducing or eliminating
chromatic aberration
In optics, chromatic aberration (CA), also called chromatic distortion, color aberration, color fringing, or purple fringing, is a failure of a lens to focus all colors to the same point. It is caused by dispersion: the refractive index of the ...
(distortion due to colour fringes).
Leonhard Euler
Leonhard Euler ( ; ; ; 15 April 170718 September 1783) was a Swiss polymath who was active as a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, logician, geographer, and engineer. He founded the studies of graph theory and topology and made influential ...
in 1747 had suggested that achromatism might be obtained by the combination of glass and water lenses. Relying on statements made by Sir
Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton () was an English polymath active as a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author. Newton was a key figure in the Scientific Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment that followed ...
, Dollond first disputed this possibility (''Phil. Trans.'', 1753), but subsequently, after the Swedish physicist,
Samuel Klingenstierna (1698–1765), had pointed out that Newton's law of dispersion did not harmonize with certain observed facts, Dollond began experiments to settle the question.
Early in 1757 Dollond succeeded in producing achromatic refraction by the aid of glass and water lenses, and a few months later he made a successful attempt to get the same result by a combination of glasses of different qualities (see
History of telescopes). For this achievement the
Royal Society
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
awarded him the
Copley Medal
The Copley Medal is the most prestigious award of the Royal Society of the United Kingdom, conferred "for sustained, outstanding achievements in any field of science". The award alternates between the physical sciences or mathematics and the bio ...
in 1758, and three years later elected him one of its fellows. Dollond also published two papers on apparatus for measuring small angles (''Phil. Trans.'', 1753, 1754).
In 1761, Dollond became the optician of King
George III. He died of
apoplexy
Apoplexy () refers to the rupture of an internal organ and the associated symptoms. Informally or metaphorically, the term ''apoplexy'' is associated with being furious, especially as "apoplectic". Historically, it described what is now known as a ...
on 30 November, of that year in London.
Family
He married Elizabeth Sommelier in 1729.
They had two sons and three daughters. Their daughter, Sarah Dollond, married his neighbour and friend, the mathematician and instrument maker
Jesse Ramsden
Jesse Ramsden Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS FRSE (6 October 1735 – 5 November 1800) was a British mathematician, astronomy, astronomical and scientific instrument maker. His reputation was built on the engraving and design of dividing engine ...
.
Priority of invention

A theoretical approach to reduce chromatic aberration was worked out by
Leonhard Euler
Leonhard Euler ( ; ; ; 15 April 170718 September 1783) was a Swiss polymath who was active as a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, logician, geographer, and engineer. He founded the studies of graph theory and topology and made influential ...
in papers that he published in the Memoires of the Berlin Academy between 1747 and 1753. John Dollond read the paper and conducted experiments to construct an achromatic lens and was the first person to patent the
achromatic doublet which was granted on 19 April 1758 for a period of 14 years.
However, he was not the first to make such lenses. Optician
George Bass
George Bass (; 30 January 1771 – after 5 February 1803) was a British naval surgeon and explorer of Australia.
Early life
Bass was born on 30 January 1771 at Aswarby, a hamlet near Sleaford, Lincolnshire, the son of a tenant farmer, George B ...
, following the instructions of
Chester Moore Hall, made and sold such lenses as early as 1733.
[Daumas, Maurice, ''Scientific Instruments of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries and Their Makers'', Portman Books, London 1989 ] In the late 1750s, Bass told Dollond about Hall's design; Dollond saw the potential and was able to reproduce them.
Dollond appears to have known of the prior work and refrained from enforcing his patent. After his death, his son, Peter, did take action to enforce the patent. A number of his competitors, including Bass, Benjamin Martin, Robert Rew and Jesse Ramsden
Jesse Ramsden Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS FRSE (6 October 1735 – 5 November 1800) was a British mathematician, astronomy, astronomical and scientific instrument maker. His reputation was built on the engraving and design of dividing engine ...
, took action. Dollond's patent was upheld, as the court found that the patent was valid due to Dollond's ''exploitation'' of the invention while prior inventors did not. Several of the opticians were ruined by the expense of the legal proceedings and closed their shops as a result. The patent remained valid until it expired in 1772. Following the expiry of the patent, the price of achromatic doublets in England dropped by half.[Ronald Pearsall, ''Collecting and Restoring Scientific Instruments'', David and Charles, London 1974, ]
See also
* Dollond & Aitchison
* List of astronomical instrument makers
References
External links
*
*
"An account of some experiments concerning the different refrangibility of light"
''Phil. Trans.'', , 1759,
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dollond, John
1706 births
1761 deaths
People from Spitalfields
18th-century English astronomers
Recipients of the Copley Medal
Lens designers
Fellows of the Royal Society
English scientific instrument makers