As OSA members celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Society, I invite readers to enjoy almost 100 years of content from the Journal of the Optical Society of America and its spin-offs JOSA A and B. Hopefully, this editorial helps illustrate the valuable scholarly perspective that may be gained from a few hours of page turning or web browsing when one looks across the fascinating panorama of science and world history. The enhanced perspective may be especially beneficial for developing mentors, decision makers, and others who wish to fathom the interwoven threads of science and society. In my January editorial on this topic I juxtaposed the early years of the journal with world events [1]. Here, I continue this theme by reflecting on the years up to the end of 1949. My particular interest is in early papers and world events that paralleled or influenced the modern scope of JOSA B, namely, optical physics and the interaction of light with matter. I can happily recommend two easily read papers from 1929 that many readers of JOSA B will find intriguing and worthy of a few moments of contemplation [2,3].

The 1920s were spirited times in science and society. Born, Schrödinger, Heisenberg, Pauli, and Dirac were formalizing quantum mechanics [4], Lemaitre proposed the Big Bang theory [5], and Raman observed inelastic light scattering [6]. Compton was actively advancing x-ray optics [7], environmental optical signatures were being documented [8,9,10], the Michelson–Morley experiment was repeated [11], Land invented sheet polarizers [12], and new photoelectric detection methods inspired bustling laboratory activities measuring everything having optical characteristics. Bose and Einstein applied statistical mechanics to integer spin particles like photons [13,14]. Meanwhile, middle class families in some regions of the world embraced the fruits of scientific and technological advances, being suddenly able to purchase conveniences like radios, automobiles, washing machines, and vacuum cleaners. The first 3-D movies came to cinemas, and various television techniques were being developed [15]. Fleming discovered penicillin, and Goddard invented liquid-fueled rockets. Parts of the world enjoyed economic prosperity and expanded women’s rights, while the arts during the “Roaring Twenties” blossomed in major capitals. However, the social and economic exuberance burst like a bubble with stock market crashes in 1929.

The socio-economic fallout contributed to worldwide upheaval in the 1930s. Worldwide military expenditures mushroomed [16], and discontent spread across the globe. In contrast to these widespread social spasms, however, steady scientific advancements continued to benefit from the momentous advances of the previous few decades. During the 1930s the cyclotron was invented by Lawrence [17], Chadwick discovered the neutron [18], Knoll and Ruska co-invented the electron microscope [4], Jansky invented the radio telescope [19], Rabi discovered nuclear magnetic resonance [20], Einstein, Podolsky, and Rosen posed a quantum paradox [21], Wigner and Seitz developed the quantum theory of solids [22], and Chester F. Carlson invented the photocopier (xerography) [23,24]. Following Szilard’s proposal of a nuclear chain reaction [25] and the discovery of nuclear fission [26,27] by Meitner and Frisch, and Hahn and Strassmann, physicists Szilard, Teller, Wigner, Sachs, and Einstein drafted a letter about the feasibility of an atomic bomb that was sent to U.S. President Roosevelt, signed by Einstein [28]. Other scientific discoveries and engineering achievements that would intensify the impending war effort included the invention of jet engines (Whittle and von Ohain [29]), FM radio (Armstrong [30]—who earlier invented super heterodyning and feedback circuits), aircraft-locating radar (Watson-Watt [31]), and the Klystron (Varian brothers [32]). During the 1930s, publications in JOSA were dominated by scientific reports on optical measurements, e.g., color, lamp and material spectra, refraction, polarization, biological effects of light, environmental optics of land, air, and sea, and industrial optics related to paper, pigments, dyes, automobiles, and agriculture. For example, Janet Clark described three years of ultraviolet radiation measurements from sunshine in Baltimore [33], Gorton Fonda analyzed the quenching of fluorescence in rhodamine-dyed films [34], August Pfund recognized the importance of PMMA as an optical material [35], and Julian Webb gave a quantum interpretation to the much discussed phenomenon of latent images in photography [36]. JOSA papers of historical value from this period include reviews by Compton on x-ray optics [37,38], Crew’s assessment of Young’s contributions to wave theory [39], and Poor’s critique of gravitational bending measurements [40]. The decade ended with the beginning of WWII, which brought tens of millions of civilian and military casualties [41,42].

Science and engineering advancements have always been an integral component of war. Key military technologies advanced during the early 1940s included nuclear science, digital computing, radar, rocketry, and optical surveillance. The history of optics during this period, as evidenced by publications in JOSA, seems oddly incongruent with a world at war. Some advances may have been deemed too sensitive to publish during wartime [43]. Nevertheless, this was the period when the Jones calculus for polarization was introduced [44], interference spectroscopy was being developed by Meissner [45,46], Land popularized Mahler’s concept of polarization-based stereographs called “vectographs” [47], Hecht explored the quantum relations of vision [48], Hulburt explored propagation through scattering materials [49], Kreidl recognized the importance of glass fluorescence [50], and applications of Schlieren imaging were employed [51]. Thumb through the Letters and Announcements from these years, though, and the war is clearly evident. See, for example, the unsigned letter defending Bausch & Lomb’s American patriotism [52], or the “Note to [U.S.] Physicists” to register and help support the “scientific capacity of the nation” [53]. A detailed letter, “Optical Physics in the U.S.S.R.” [54], stands out for what is starkly missing—according to the date and place, it was written during the multiyear Siege of Leningrad, but the letter conceals any sense of hardship. Like many snippets of history, that letter is certain to have an extremely interesting backstory [55,56].

With the ending of WWII in 1945, military technology found its way into commercial products such as the first microwave ovens, antibiotics, pesticides, safety belts, plastic food wrap and containers, mobile telephones, and improved optical instrumentation. The diminished urgency for military research afforded many scientists an opportunity to refocus on fundamental investigations. “After more than five years of practically universal conscription of industry and science for war, an armistice has made it necessary to resume some prewar activities,” states Meggers [57]. The year 1947 was a particularly fabulous year for science and pent-up innovation. As a singular example of how post-war research changed the modern world, consider the successful demonstration of a transistor in 1947 by Bardeen, Brattain, and Shockley [58,59,60]. Coupled with the Kilby and Noyce invention of the integrated circuit a decade later [61], the computational power of transistors continues to change and challenge the ways humans interact with themselves and machines. Imaging science gained a significant advancement when Gabor invented holography in 1947 (for reproducing electron micrographs) [62,63]—it would take the invention of the laser in 1960 to record holograms with visible light. Infrared spectroscopy and imaging also benefitted from the development of superconducting bolometers [64]. Benford (of the famed Benford’s Law of the statistical occurrence of numbers) explored radiation in diffusing materials [65]. That same year, Edwin Land disclosed the polaroid photographic process [66], David Sinclair described Mie scattering from spherical particles [67], and Mary Banning pioneered advanced methods of making and using dielectric stacks [68].

I hope this cursory juxtaposition of science and world history will stimulate some readers to explore the pivotal first half of the 20th century, keeping in mind the intertwined sacrifices and achievements. Science was reverberating from the aftershocks of the quantum and relativity revolutions, and optics was expanding detection capabilities from x-rays to the infrared. Some areas of science and technology were unaffected by societal disturbances, while others were catalyzed. It is often said that by understanding the past we can learn to better navigate into the unpredictable future. For further reading, some of these topics are discussed in more detail or from a different perspective in “OSA Century of Optics” [69] and any number of other online and library sources.

OSA has also created a Centennial website with relevant resources and information [70]. Historical contributions from JOSA, JOSA A, and JOSA B have been made freely available in the Bookshelf section. In addition, both JOSA B and JOSA A are generating new content in celebration of the milestone. They have appointed special Centennial Editors, Prem Kumar and Bahaa Saleh, respectively, who have invited leading researchers to provide a modern glimpse of some of the key topics in optics over the years. To make these articles especially interesting, the authors were asked to project where the research may lead in the future. The Centennial Editors are also preparing a selection of “Editor’s Picks” that highlight some of the most distinguished papers in a few of the most critical research areas for the journals. All of this material, both new and old, is easily discoverable thanks to technological advances and improvements to the OSA Publishing platform.

I am grateful for the advice and suggestions of several proofreaders.