Learning Lens Design from Rudolf Kingslake: Problems & Solutions

This book is a tribute to the legacy of lens designer Rudolf Kingslake, a pioneer in the field who taught lens design for 56 years at The Institute of Optics at the University of Rochester. The book introduces a collection of over 150 of his lens design problems, which were handwritten on index cards and used in Kingslake’s courses from the 1930s to the 1980s. Each problem is accompanied by detailed solutions and organized by topic, including: • Ray Tracing • First-Order Optics • Monochromatic Aberrations • Chromatic Aberrations • Thin Lens Aberrations • Optical Systems & Designs

David H. Lippman is an optical designer on the Engineering Services team at Keysight Optical Design Engineering. He is an expert in the design, tolerancing, and analysis of highperformance imaging systems. David has experience designing optical systems in use across industries ranging from semiconductor and consumer electronics to aerospace and defense. At Keysight, he also contributes to the development of the optical design software CODE V. Prior to his engineering services role, in 2023, David earned a Ph.D. in Optics from The Institute of Optics at the University of Rochester under the advisement of Duncan Moore, Greg Schmidt, and Julie Bentley. His doctoral research investigated the design and metrology of freeform gradient-index optics for both imaging and nonimaging optical design. As a graduate student, David was awarded the Michael Kidger Memorial Scholarship in Optical Design in 2022. He also holds an M.S. in Technical Entrepreneurship and Management from the University of Rochester.

Julie L. Bentley is a Professor at the Institute of Optics, University of Rochester, and has taught courses in geometrical optics, optical design, and product design for over 25 years. She is a Fellow of SPIE and OSA and will serve as SPIE’s president in 2026. Her expertise is in the area of optical design and tolerancing of precision optical instruments. She received a B.S. in Optics (1990), a M.S. in Optics (1992), and a Ph.D. in Optics (1995) from the University of Rochester. She holds several U.S. patents and co-authored her first book, Field Guide to Lens Design, with S. Craig Olson (SPIE Press, 2012). Her second and third books, Designing Optics Using CODE V© (SPIE Press, 2018) and Designing Optics Using Zemax© (SPIE Press, 2023) were co-authored with Don O’Shea. Outside of teaching and research she runs a successful optical design consulting business, Bentley Optical Design, where she designs lens systems for a wide variety of applications ranging from medical devices for cancer detection to visible and infrared military optics.

Duncan T. Moore is the Rudolf and Hilda Kingslake Emeritus Professor of Optical Engineering and previously the vice provost for entrepreneurship at the University of Rochester. He also served as president of the Optical Society of America (OSA) and became an Honorary Member in 2025. Moore was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in the fall of 1997 for the position of associate director for technology in The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). His Ph.D. degree in optics was awarded from the University of Rochester and a bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of Maine. Moore has experience in the academic, research, business, and government arenas of science and technology. He is an expert in gradient-index optics, computer-aided design, and the manufacture of optical systems. Moore began a one-year appointment as Science Advisor to Senator John D. Rockefeller IV of West Virginia. Moore was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 1998.