Alexander Smakula

Alexander Smakula - is my grand grand father. Alexander Smakula (1900, Dobrovody (Ukraine) - 17 May 1983, Auburn) was a Ukrainian physicist best known for the discovery of anti-reflective coating of lenses.

Biography of Alexander Smakula

Alexander Smakula was born in Dobrovody village (Ternopil oblast) in a family of peasants. After finishing his studies at the Ternopil gymnasium he applied to the University of G?ttingen from which he graduated in 1927. Afterwards he worked as an assistant of Prof. Robert Pohl. After his short stay at the University of Odessa Alexander Smakula returned to Germany as a head of an optics laboratory in Heidelberg. From 1934 he worked at the Carl Zeiss company in Jena. At those times, in 1935, Smakula invented and patented anti-reflective coating for lenses, which appeared to be a serious improvement in many optical devices. After the end of World War II Smakula went to the USA, where he first worked in Virginia investigating materials for infrared technology. In 1951 he got an offer of professorship at the MIT, where he mainly did research on crystals. Alexander Smakula died on May 17, 1983 and is buried in Auburn.

Anti-reflecting coating: invented by Alexander Smakula find out more

Articles about Alexander Smakula in Ukrainian

Alexander Smakula a MS word document - download only
The formula of Smakula
Alexander Smakula - wikipedia