ORA Announces Availability of Rolland-Thompson Collection of Antiquarian Books in Early Optics
Digitized copies of rare, public domain optics books can now be ordered online from www.kirtas.com/ora.
June 2010 - Optical Research Associates (ORA®) is pleased to announce a partnership with Kirtas Technologies, a leader in book digitization, to make the Rolland-Thompson Collection of Antiquarian Books in Early Optics and Related Sciences available for sale online. The collection is composed of rare, out-of-print books in optics and optical design from the personal collection of Dr. Kevin P. Thompson, ORA Vice President of Optical Engineering Services, and Dr. Jannick Rolland, Professor of Optical Engineering at the University of Rochester’s Institute of Optics. This is a not-for-profit venture for ORA, with all of its proceeds going to continued efforts to preserve rare optics texts and make them available to the public.
Among the over 150 titles in the Rolland-Thompson collection are Henry Coddington’s Treatise on the Reflexion and Refraction of Light (1829) and George Biddell Airy’s Undulatory Theory of Light (1848). The collection represents a broad set of contributions to the historically significant field of optical instrument design. All of the books are no longer in print, and are in the public domain.
The partnership with Kirtas Technologies now makes these books available for sale as digital downloads or high-quality bound reprints on www.kirtasbooks.com/ora.
Original copies of the collection were donated by Rolland and Thompson to the University of Arizona’s College of Optical Sciences for optics research and education.
“I am pleased to be able to improve access to these classic optics texts, which help provide a broader understanding of the evolution of the field over the last 300 years,” said Thompson. “The digitization of these books by Kirtas Technologies is an important part of preserving our optical sciences heritage, and, with the support of ORA and the optics community, I look forward to seeing this collection expand for many years to come.”
About ORA
With over 45 years of success as an industry leader, Optical Research Associates (ORA) is committed to delivering innovative solutions to the optics industry. With its CODE V® and LightTools® software products, ORA is the world's leading developer of optical software. ORA's Engineering Services group provides imaginative, cost-effective solutions across the entire spectrum of optical design, with more than 4,800 completed projects since the company was founded in 1963. Working with their software distribution partners, ORA now has customers in more than 25 countries. To learn more about Kevin P. Thompson and ORA's Engineering Services group, visit www.opticalres.com/engr/engineering.html.
