Re: Kohler illumination question...

I took a closer look at the technique used for the "diffuser" and I can only
agree with Aaron and Klaus that the surface structure of this optical
element is very interesting. Before we can draw any conclusions some serious
experiments must be performed. Experiments that Zeiss and Leitz have already
conducted.

Considering the fact that the great optics experts from Zeiss and Leitz came
up with this subtlety to better implement Köhler illumination (or Koehler,
if you do not want to use ASCII 148!), I believe that it is worth to more
carefully study this detail.

In Physics many things can be explained, as long as the Physics can model
the real world situation. But as in so many cases in microscopy, with our
current understanding in Physics we cannot explain it all. Of course,
Physics, as an extremely important tool, guides us, but sometimes it may
blind us. What I am trying to say is that I could learn all there is from
countless text books in optics and I would still not be able to build the
best implementation of a Köhler illumination. Why? All implementations are
flawed. And, in the flaws we recognize the truth and not in elegant
equations.

I would not be surprised if we see further improvements even in the design
of our old Köhler illumination.

Just my two cents ;-)

Gregor

"justbeats" <steve_beats@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1115071384.034943.147380@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Not sure where to step in here - and I'm somewhat daunted to do so
> amongst such clearly well-informed correspondents. But as the OP who
> started this thread, may I humbly observe that my original question was
> prompted by a suspicion that the crtical V kohler thing hid grey areas
> that hadn't been described or discussed at length in an online forum
> (to my satisfaction, anyway)
>
> It seems I was right in the general sense, and while the discussion is
> very interesting, any consensus reached will make no difference in
> practical terms. In summary: as long as the approximate focus of a
> Kohler/critical illumination system is somewhere between the filament
> and the ground glass - the final result will always be judged on the
> subject, not the fidelity of it's reproduction.
>
> Cool stuff though! I'm learning a lot - please keep it up :-)
>
> Cheers
> Beats
>


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