WAn optical instrument is a device that processes light waves, either to enhance an image for viewing or to analyze and determine their characteristic properties. Common examples include periscopes, microscopes, telescopes, and cameras.
WCoherence scanning interferometry (CSI) refers to a class of optical surface measurement methods wherein the localization of interference fringes during a scan of optical path length provides a means to determine surface characteristics such as topography, transparent film structure, and optical properties. CSI is currently the most common interference microscopy technique for areal surface topography measurement. The term "CSI" was adopted by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
WThe disappearing-filament pyrometer is an optical pyrometer, in which the temperature of a glowing incandescent object is measured by comparing it to the light of a heated filament. Invented independently in 1901 by Ludwig Holborn and Ferdinand Kurlbaum in Germany and Harmon Northrup Morse in the United States, it was the first device which could measure temperatures above 1000 °C. Disappearing filament pyrometers have been used to measure temperatures between about 600 °C and 3000 °C. Like other optical pyrometers they are used to measure the temperature of objects too hot for contact thermometers, such as molten metals. Widely used in the steel and ceramics industries as well as for research, they have been almost totally superseded by electronic spectral-band pyrometers.
WAn erygmascope is a late 19th-century electric lighting apparatus designed for the examination of the strata of earth traversed by boring apparatus.
WA glossmeter is an instrument which is used to measure specular reflection gloss of a surface. Gloss is determined by projecting a beam of light at a fixed intensity and angle onto a surface and measuring the amount of reflected light at an equal but opposite angle.
WInterferometry is a technique in which waves, usually electromagnetic waves, are superimposed, causing the phenomenon of interference, which is used to extract information. Interferometry is an important investigative technique in the fields of astronomy, fiber optics, engineering metrology, optical metrology, oceanography, seismology, spectroscopy, quantum mechanics, nuclear and particle physics, plasma physics, remote sensing, biomolecular interactions, surface profiling, microfluidics, mechanical stress/strain measurement, velocimetry, optometry, and making holograms.
WA mirror galvanometer is an ammeter that indicates it has sensed an electric current by deflecting a light beam with a mirror. The beam of light projected on a scale acts as a long massless pointer. In 1826, Johann Christian Poggendorff developed the mirror galvanometer for detecting electric currents. The apparatus is also known as a spot galvanometer after the spot of light produced in some models.
WThe Post Plotting Instrument, or simply Post Instrument, was the standard optical sighting system used by the UK's Royal Observer Corps (ROC) to determine the location of aircraft. It was used during the period from the mid-1930s into the early 1950s, and was one of the main sources of daytime tracking information during World War II.
WReynolds & Branson Leeds was a business based at 13 Briggate and 14 Commercial Street in Leeds, England. The business lasted from 1816 to 1972. Edward Matterson managed the company in 1822, and William West F.R.S. took over in 1833. The National Archives Records about the company include a day book, sales ledger, and prescription books. The records were created by Reynolds & Branson Ltd. Reynolds & Branson was registered in July 1898 as a limited corporation with a capital of £34,000 in shares of £10 each by Messrs. R. Reynolds, F. W. Branson. No remuneration was given to Mr. R. Reynolds, but a £700 per annum was given to each of the others. In 1890, Richard Reynold's son, Richard Freshfield (Fred) Reynolds was made a partner. The firm was in the business of wholesale and retail for chemists and surgical instrument makers.
WUpside down goggles, also known as "invertoscopes" by Russian researchers, are an optical instruments that invert the image received by the retinas upside down. They are used to study human visual perception, particularly psychological process of building a visual image in the brain. Objects viewed through such a device appear upside down and mirrored. They are constructed using sets of optical right-angle prisms, Dove prisms, or a mirror plus right-angle prisms with unequal catetus.
WW. Watson and Son was an optical instrument maker. In 1837, the William Watson business was established in London for the manufacture of optical instruments. By the 1840s, the company moved into lanterns, slides and associated equipment. In 1868, the name was changed to W. Watson & Son and by this time were located at 313 High Holborn, London. In the 1870s, the company added photographic equipment and became known as a leading manufacturer of the Highest Class Photographic Instruments and Apparatus in England. Into the 1940s, the company remained at 313 High Holborn, London, England.