physics

Warren J. Smith

Warren J. Smith is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Warren J. Smith rather than just read about it. In short: Warren J. Smith (1922-2008) was president of the Optical Society of America in 1980.

Key takeaways

Warren J. Smith belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Warren J. Smith to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Warren J. Smith from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Warren J. Smith (1922-2008) was president of the Optical Society of America in 1980. Warren Smith is world-renowned in the optics community as author of two editions of Modern Optical Engineering - The Design of Optical Systems, Modern Lens Design - A Resource Manual and Practical Optical Systems Layout. He was a Founder and President of the Chicago Section of the Optical Society of America (OSA); a Director of the Optical Society of Southern California (OSSC); National President of OSA in 1980; recipient of the SPIE Gold Medal; and National President of the SPIE in 1983. He is a Fellow of the OSA, SPIE and the OSSC. He taught optics courses for the University of Wisconsin, SPIE, OSA, and various companies and government agencies at worldwide locations. "Warren was a mentor who always listened, and was always very supportive," said Max Riedl, who worked with Smith at Infrared Industries in Santa Barbara, CA. "A clear and critical thinker, he was never satisfied with 'just' solving an optical problem. During the 23 years we worked together, I never saw any of his designs that did not bring the predicted results." Born on 17 August 1922, Smith graduated from Institute of Optics at the University of Rochester. After graduation, he worked for Eastman Kodak in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. In 1946 he became Chief Optical Engineer at Simpson Optical Manufacturing Company in Chicago, IL, and in 1959 he moved Raytheon in Santa Barbara, CA, where he was Manager of the Optics Section until 1962. From 1962 until 1983 he was Director of R&D at Infrared Industries in Santa Barbara, and Vice President of R&D at Santa Barbara Applied Optics until 1987. After 1987, Warren Smith was the chief scientist at Kaiser Electro Optics in Carlsbad, California working part-time at the end of his career due to the demands of consulting, teaching, and expert witnessing, and writing the 3rd edition of his book Modern Optical Engineering. Warren J. Smith resided in Vista, California, until his death on 19 June 2008. He was survived by his wife Mary Helen Smith (they married in 1944) and their two grown children David and Barbara.

See also Optical Society of America § Past Presidents of the OSA

References

External links Optical Society of Southern California Fellows Profile of Warren J. Smith In memoriam: Warren J. Smith Articles Published by early OSA Presidents Journal of the Optical Society of America

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Warren J. Smith

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Warren J. Smith claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Warren J. Smith before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Warren J. Smith ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Warren J. Smith

In research: Warren J. Smith appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Warren J. Smith in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Warren J. Smith is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1922 births, 2008 deaths, 20th-century American physicists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Warren J. Smith outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Warren J. Smith in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Warren J. Smith means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Warren J. Smith out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Warren J. Smith in simple terms?

Warren J. Smith (1922-2008) was president of the Optical Society of America in 1980.

Why does Warren J. Smith matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Warren J. Smith?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Warren J. Smith.