ABSTRACT
Optics manufacturing with glass seems to be a very old and traditional craft. The oldest presently known lens, a quartz lens called the Nimrud lens in literature, is dated around 1000 BCE and was found in the ancient Assyrian city Nimrud in northern Mesopotamia. Most likely, the first optical component produced by mankind was a simple mirror made of polished stone or metal; the goal was to imitate the reflection of smooth water surfaces. It is now known that about 5000 years ago, bronze mirrors were used in Mesopotamia, and the master builders of the ancient Egyptian civilization employed such mirrors for the illumination of burial sites in the Valley of the Kings. The preform of an optical component is produced by compression molding or cutting, rounding, and hollow drilling. The optically active surfaces of this component are then rough ground, fine ground, and finish ground; either bound abrasives or loose abrasives are used.
