In the course of the design of an optical system a knowledge of higher order aberration coefficients and of the contributions thereto by the individual surfaces is of great value. The present paper provides a computing scheme for the full set of tertiary (and of course primary and secondary) monochromatic aberration coefficients of symmetrical optical systems composed of spherical surfaces. This particular scheme is intended for use with ordinary desk calculating machines, and comprises only 192 entries of the usual kind per surface. The method of construction of the scheme is discussed, and a complete numerical example provided. The checks used to ensure the correctness of the scheme at the same time test the correctness of certain long sets of equations contained in the author’s monograph on optical aberration coefficients; and one misprint in them was thus discovered. This is corrected here. A new nomenclature for higher order aberrations is proposed.

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Citation lists with outbound citation links are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an OSA member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Log in to access OSA Member Subscription

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Cited by links are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an OSA member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Log in to access OSA Member Subscription