Tribute to John Greivenkamp: A Respect for the Fundamentals

Katie Schwertz

Edmund Optics, USA

John and his Optical Design and Instrumentation classes at the University of Arizona had a reputation for straight-forward demos and experiments that connected theory to reality. Paraxial optics and Gaussian reduction aren’t exactly flashy, but they set the foundation of understanding for a plethora of more complex concepts in optics and photonics. I always respected that John reveled in the fundamentals and simple explanations regarding optical concepts. John instilled this foundational knowledge in so many people working today in our field.

The foundation that John set that personally impacted me the greatest was the Field Guide series. It’s a perfect example of John’s passion for fundamentals. Who doesn’t have a copy of the Field Guide to Geometrical Optics on their desk? How many times have we all had to look up an equation we learned in our first optics class but just can’t quite remember that factor of 2? Shortly after I graduated from the University of Arizona, Jim Burge and I published the Field Guide to Optomechanical Design and Analysis. While writing the content, the guidance was always to keep everything short, simple, and straightforward. The intent of the first book has permeated through the rest of them, creating an indispensable set of basic references for the practicing optical engineer. Publishing a field guide opened so many doors for me, and I am grateful that John made that opportunity possible.