Michael J. Kidger
Optical Designer and Teacher
Michael Kidger was a man of exceptional scientific and technical talent, dedicated to doing work with thoroughness and clarity that made it accessible to others, including his students. He valued the satisfaction of doing his best over any mundane reward. His enthusiasm for optical design began in his student years and continued throughout his career. He believed that non-specialists could produce effective optical designs if provided with coherent and unified theoretical and practical tools, a goal he achieved through pioneering software development, intuitive teaching, and clear extraction of practical rules from complex theory.
The Early Years
Michael John Kidger was born on 6 July 1937 in Birmingham, England, the only son of teachers John and Lillian Kidger. The family moved to Redditch, Worcestershire, where he attended Redditch County High School. His academic excellence earned him a Royal Scholarship to Imperial College, London, and a County Major Scholarship from Worcestershire.
Development as an Optical Designer
As an undergraduate, Michael was influenced by Professor Walter Welford at Imperial College, sparking his interest in lens design. After graduation, he earned an MSc and worked at Rank Taylor Hobson in Leicester, focusing on zoom and fixed-focus camera lenses. On 26 November 1960, he married Tina Emily Webb at St George’s Church, Redditch.
In 1963, Michael returned to Imperial College, joining the Optical Design Group under Charles Wynne, where he helped develop software for automatic lens design and refined the damped least squares optimization technique, now widely used in optical design software. In 1971, he was awarded a Ph.D. for his thesis, The application of electronic computers to the design of optical systems, including aspheric lenses.
Michael with Tutorial Class
Adelaide 1990
Michael recognized the potential of desktop computers for optical design in the early 1970s, leading development of intuitive, easy-to-use software. He simplified and unified complex theoretical work, making it accessible to students and non-specialists alike. The arrival of the IBM PC in the 1980s allowed his software, SIGMA, released in 1982 through Kidger Optics Ltd, to revolutionize optical design.
Teacher and Optical Designer
Michael developed intensive short courses blending theory and practice, focusing on applying aberration theory rather than deriving it. He helped students develop a ‘feel’ for design, showing how classical theory could be combined with modern software to achieve optimum results. A talented and innovative lens designer, Michael produced simple yet highly effective designs, enhancing understanding of aberration limits and classical theory.
In Memoriam
Michael passed away suddenly on a teaching trip to Australia in February 1998. He is survived by his wife Tina, son David, and daughter Julia. Tina, along with Michael’s friends and associates, established the Michael J. Kidger Memorial Scholarship to support optical design students and arranged the posthumous publication of his teachings in Fundamental Optical Design and Intermediate Optical Design (SPIE). Tina continues as Managing Director of the business they founded together in 1982, now operating as Kidger Optics Associates, an optical design consultancy.
For further insight into Michael Kidger, see Tina’s foreword in Fundamental Optical Design, Vol. I.
We acknowledge with thanks the contributions of David E. L. Freeman, MSc, DIC, student, friend, and associate of Michael J. Kidger.