Chris Bennett: Milestone reached in service to optics

One hundred and twenty five years ago, almost to the day, the first copy of Optician was published. The genesis of the journal was a reader’s letter to a London newspaper requesting information on spectacle lenses. Charles Hyatt-Woolf, was given the job of answering the enquiry and the ensuing investigation prompted the launch of The Optician. The first issue appeared on April 2 1891 at a cover price of 3d. Its sub-title: The Organ of the Optical, Mathematical, Philosophical, Electrical and Photographic Instrument Industries and Review of Jewellery and Allied Trades, gives an indication of the infancy of optics at the time.