| Historical introduction | p. 1 |
| Period 1608-1672 | p. 1 |
| Period 1672-1840 | p. 11 |
| William Herschel's telescopes | p. 15 |
| Basic (Gaussian) optical theory of telescopes | p. 21 |
| Basic function of a telescope | p. 21 |
| The ideal optical system, geometrical optics and Gaussian optics | p. 23 |
| The ideal optical system and Gaussian concept | p. 23 |
| Geometrical optics and geometrical wavefronts | p. 26 |
| The Gaussian optics approximation | p. 27 |
| The conventional telescope with an ocular | p. 36 |
| Basic forms of reflecting telescope | p. 40 |
| The scale of astronomical telescopes and the magnification in afocal use of compound telescopes | p. 54 |
| "Wide-field" telescopes and multi-element forms | p. 55 |
| Aberration theory of telescopes | p. 57 |
| Definition of the third order approximation | p. 57 |
| Characteristic Function and Seidel (3rd order) aberrations: aberration theory of basic telescope forms | p. 59 |
| The Characteristic Function of Hamilton | p. 59 |
| The Seidel approximation: third order aberration coefficients | p. 63 |
| Seidel coefficients of some basic reflecting telescope systems | p. 65 |
| Analytical (third order) theory for 1-mirror and 2-mirror telescopes | p. 69 |
| Higher order aberrations and system evaluation | p. 82 |
| Analytical expressions for a 1-mirror telescope and various forms of 2-mirror telescopes (Classical, Ritchey-Chretien, Dall-Kirkham, Spherical Primary) | p. 88 |
| Other forms of aplanatic 2-mirror telescopes (Schwarzschild, Couder) | p. 111 |
| Scaling laws from normalized systems to real apertures and focal lengths | p. 126 |
| Nature of third order aberrations and conversion formulae from wavefront aberration to other forms | p. 128 |
| Spherical aberration (S[subscript I]) | p. 128 |
| Coma (S[subscript II]) | p. 131 |
| Astigmatism (S[subscript III]) and field curvature (S[subscript IV]) | p. 135 |
| Distortion (S[subscript V]) | p. 138 |
| Examples of conversions | p. 139 |
| Conversions for Gaussian aberrations | p. 139 |
| The theory of aspheric plates | p. 140 |
| The role of refracting elements in modern telescopes: chromatic variations of first order and third order aberrations | p. 146 |
| Wide-field telescopes | p. 148 |
| The symmetrical stop position: the Bouwers telescope | p. 148 |
| The Schmidt telescope | p. 151 |
| The Maksutov telescope | p. 165 |
| More complex variants of telescopes derived from the principles of the Schmidt, Bouwers and Maksutov systems | p. 174 |
| Three- or multi-mirror telescopes (centered) | p. 223 |
| Off-axis (Schiefspiegler) and decentered telescopes | p. 255 |
| Two- and three-mirror Schiefspiegler | p. 255 |
| The significance of Schiefspiegler theory in the centering of normal telescopes: formulae for the effects of decentering of 2-mirror telescopes | p. 261 |
| Despace effects in 2-mirror telescopes | p. 279 |
| Axial despace effects | p. 279 |
| Transverse despace effects | p. 287 |
| Zernike polynomials | p. 288 |
| Diffraction theory and its relation to aberrations | p. 293 |
| The Point Spread Function (PSF) due to diffraction at a rectangular aperture | p. 293 |
| Coherence | p. 297 |
| The Point Spread Function (PSF) due to diffraction at a circular aperture | p. 298 |
| The Point Spread Function (PSF) due to diffraction at an annular aperture | p. 302 |
| The diffraction PSF in the presence of small aberrations | p. 304 |
| The diffraction PSF in the presence of small aberrations and an annular aperture | p. 310 |
| The diffraction PSF in the presence of larger aberrations: the Optical Transfer Function (OTF) | p. 312 |
| Diffraction effects at obstructions in the pupil other than axial central obstruction | p. 322 |
| Field correctors and focal reducers or extenders | p. 325 |
| Introduction | p. 325 |
| Aspheric plate correctors | p. 327 |
| Prime focus (PF) correctors using aspheric plates | p. 327 |
| Cassegrain or Gregory focus correctors using aspheric plates | p. 340 |
| Correctors using lenses | p. 348 |
| Prime focus (PF) correctors using lenses | p. 348 |
| Secondary focus correctors using lenses | p. 372 |
| Atmospheric Dispersion Correctors (ADC) | p. 392 |
| Focal reducers and extenders | p. 404 |
| Simple reducers and extenders in front of the image | p. 404 |
| Wide-field focal reducers (FR) as a substitute for a prime focus | p. 406 |
| Other Cassegrain focal reducers | p. 414 |
| Major telescopes from Lord Rosse to about 1980 | p. 419 |
| Major telescopes in the speculum mirror epoch to 1865 | p. 419 |
| Glass optics telescopes up to the Palomar 200-inch | p. 431 |
| Reflectors after the 200-inch Palomar Telescope up to about 1980 | p. 449 |
| Appendices | p. 465 |
| List of mathematical symbols | p. 467 |
| Portrait gallery | p. 487 |
| References | p. 502 |
| List of Figures | p. 513 |
| List of Tables | p. 527 |
| Name Index | p. 531 |
| Subject Index | p. 536 |
| Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved. |
