Ernst Abbe

(1840–1905; b. Eisenach, Germany; d. Jena, Germany) German mathematician and physicist. His father was a book printer and factory worker and his childhood was one of privation. Abbe studied at U Jena and U Göttingen, receiving his PhD in 1861. In 1863 he was appointed to a lectureship at Jena on the basis of a dissertation that, in effect, derived the chi-squared distribution. Following an approach from Carl Zeiss, most of his subsequent work was concerned with optics and astronomy. A lunar crater is named after him, also a minor planet, and several schools in Germany.

German physicist (1840–1905)

Abbe, who was born in Eisenach (now in Germany), came from poor parents but managed to become a lecturer at the University of Jena, where in 1886 he collaborated with Carl Zeiss, a supplier of optical instruments to the university, to improve the quality of microscope production. Up till then, this had been an empirical art without rigorous theory to aid design. Abbe's contribution was his knowledge of optical theory. He is known for the Abbe sine condition – a necessary condition for the elimination of spherical aberration in an optical system; such a system he described as aplanatic. He also invented the apochromatic lens system (1886), which eliminated both primary and secondary color distortions and the Abbe condenser (1872) – a combination of lenses for converging light onto the specimen in microscopes.

The partnership between Abbe and Zeiss was a productive combination of Zeiss's practical knowledge and Abbe's mathematical and theoretical ability. After Zeiss's death, Abbe became the sole owner of the Zeiss company.

Abbe, Ernst (1840-1905), German scientist and industrialist who became professor of physics and mathematics at Jena University, then in 1866 research director (and in 1875 a partner) of the Zeiss Optical Works. He perfected the design of the Zeiss microscope, made considerable advances in the correction of lens aberrations, and persuaded the Schott glass company to produce new optical glasses that enabled Paul Rudolph to design the first anastigmat lens. Abbe used his considerable wealth for philanthropic purposes, establishing excellent industrial relations and employee benefits at the Zeiss works, of which he became owner after Carl Zeiss's death in 1888. In 1896 he transferred ownership to a foundation, the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung.

— Graham Saxby

Bibliography

• Abbe, E., Gesammelte Schriften (2 vols., 1904-6)