Bernhard Schmidt Paintings

Bernhard Schmidt, born on March 30, 1879, in Naissaar, a small island in Estonia, was not a traditional artist but a distinguished optician and inventor, best known for inventing the Schmidt telescope in 1930. His invention revolutionized observational astronomy and allowed for the viewing and photographing of fainter objects and larger areas of the sky than was possible with existing telescopes of the time. Despite losing his right arm in a childhood accident with gunpowder, Schmidt's determination and ingenuity led him to develop a keen interest in optics and astronomy. He moved to Germany for his education and eventually settled there. Throughout his career, Schmidt's innovations significantly contributed to the fields of optics and astronomy. His most notable invention, the Schmidt camera, addressed the issue of spherical aberration through a cleverly designed correcting lens, known as the Schmidt plate, allowing for wide-field astronomical photography without distortion. Schmidt's contributions were pivotal at a time when astronomy was rapidly advancing, and his designs are still in use today, underpinning the technology behind many of the world's leading observatories. Bernhard Schmidt died on December 1, 1935, in Hamburg, Germany, but his legacy endures through the continued use and development of his telescopic designs.