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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_von_Fraunhofer
& http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06250a.htm
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After eight months of study,
Fraunhofer went to work at the Optical Institute at Benediktbeuern, a
secularised Benedictine monastery devoted to glass making. There he
discovered how to make the world's finest optical glass and invented
incredibly precise methods for measuring dispersion. In 1818 he became the
director of the Optical Institute. Due to the fine optical instruments he had
developed, Bavaria overtook England as the centre of the optics industry.
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Even the likes of Michael
Faraday were unable to produce glass that could rival Fraunhofer's.
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His illustrious career
eventually earned him an honorary doctorate from the University of Erlangen
in 1822. In 1824, he was awarded the order of merit, became a noble, and made
an honorary citizen of Munich. Like many glassmakers of his era who were
poisoned by heavy metal vapours, Fraunhofer died young, in 1826 at the age of
39. His most valuable glassmaking recipes are thought to have gone to the
grave with him.
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