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标题: ZEMAX这一名字的由来 [打印本页]

作者: OfficialUser 时间: 2006-6-2 06:04
标题: ZEMAX这一名字的由来

为什么它叫ZEMAX

经常有人问我ZEMAX这个名字从何而来。1998年，我移居亚历桑那Tucson市的光学研究中心去完成我的研究生课程。过了不久，我开始着手于物理光学传播优化算法，这个算法是我的论文的一部分。那时的计算机比很慢，用于测试我的物理光学问题简直是太慢了，于是我开始着手于一些用于经典镜头设计的简单的光线追迹程序。我有时候会失眠，而且沙漠的热风也很难熬。于是我有时会一整晚都不睡觉，那个时候我编程序的效率是很高的。那个时候，我有一条狗叫Max，那是一条萨莫耶德狗，是一种俄罗斯种的爱斯基靡狗。在家里，Max是任何时候都会跟着我的，在晚上它会在桌子底下卷在我腿边睡着。因此，我决定将我的小测试程序叫MAX。这三个字母我都使用大写，即使我的狗的名字不是缩写名，因为那时大多数的科学程序都是以缩写大写来命名的。很快，我发现，与我的论文工作相比，我更喜欢编写镜头设计软件，实际上，比我以前做过的所有事都喜欢。于是我花无数的时间在MAX上。白天，我上课和写论文，晚上，我花时间在MAX上。1991年，我决定在Laser Focus World第九期杂志上给MAX做第一次广告。在我把广告艺术文件发给编辑部之后他们给我回话了，说已经有一个软件叫MAX了。我没听说有个叫MAX的软件，但他们肯定的回话确认了确实有这么一个软件，于是我只好想着把MAX这个名字改了。改广告是比较简单的，但我得给MAX想一个名字，我向我的妻子，朋友，等等那些不烦厌我向他们谈MAX的人。很快，很多人向我提议了很多名字，但也很快，很多名字被否决了，如QuickRay, EZRay, Fastlens,等等。有一个比较早的用户甚至建议将它取名为Code Six。这些名字对于我来说，好像缺了点创意。实际上，那时我有两条萨莫耶德狗，于是我的导师，(George Lawrence，GLAD程序的作者)建议我用另一只狗的名字来命名。但是“Sneakers“这个名字好像不好听。在一整天试了一些名字之后，我最后吐出了“ZEMAX”这个词，我的妻子和我都同意使用这个名字来做第一个广告，等有以后有好名字之后再用来取代ZEMAX这个名字。当然，如你们现在看到的，我们最后也没找到一个“好名字”，于是，ZEMAX这个名字也在光学设计的历史里找到了它的地位。本文为ZDC公司总裁Kenneth Moore所写，我刚才花了一点点时间翻译的，不好的地方大家指正，我也没什么闲心去校对了，原文在此，欢迎大家指正。<div class="PageTitle">Why is it called ZEMAX?</div><div class="PageTitle"></div><div class="Content">Question: Why is your optical design program called ZEMAX? What does ZEMAX mean?
I'm often asked where the name ZEMAX came from. In the Fall of 1988 I moved to Tucson, Arizona to attend graduate school at the Optical Sciences Center. Shortly thereafter, I started working on optimization algorithms for physical optics propagation as part of my thesis work. The computers of the day were too slow to really test the algorithms on physical optics problems, so I started working on a simple ray trace program for classical lens design. I was something of an insomniac, and the desert heat didn't help. I tended to stay up most or even all of the night several days a week. That was when I was most productive in programming. At that time, I had a dog named Max. He was a Samoyed, a sort of Russian Husky dog. Max would follow me wherever I went at home, and late at night he would invariably curl up at my feet under my desk. So, I decided to name my little test program MAX after my dog. I adopted capital letters for the name of the program even though MAX was not an acronym, mainly because most scientific programs of the day were capitalized acronyms. I quickly discovered I enjoyed doing lens design software programming much more than my thesis work, much more in fact than anything I had ever worked on. I worked countless hours on MAX, keeping up with my class work and thesis work during the day, and staying up nights working on MAX. In 1991 I decided to take out our very first magazine ad in the November issue of Laser Focus World. After I sent LFW the artwork for the ad, they called me back to tell me there was already another lens design program called MAX, so I would have to change my name to place the ad. I had never heard of the other MAX, but a little digging confirmed there was indeed a program with the same name already out there. With just a very short time to modify the ad, we needed a new name. I brainstormed with my wife, friends, and anyone else not sick of me talking about MAX. Many names were quickly proposed and as quickly dismissed - QuickRay, EZRay, FastLens, etc. One early user even suggested "Code Six". All the names seemed uninspired to me. I actually had two Samoyeds at the time, and my thesis advisor, (George Lawrence, author of the GLAD program) suggested I use the other dog's name instead. But "Sneakers" just didn't have the right sound to it. After days of trying to come up with a name I liked, I finally blurted out "ZEMAX". My wife and I agreed to use that name for the first ad, and for future ads we would come up with a "good name" to replace ZEMAX. And of course, as you know, we never came up with a "good name" and the name ZEMAX took it's place in lens design history. </div>

作者: OfficialUser 时间: 2006-6-2 06:13

从此文看来，ZEMAX才是正确拼写，ZeMax、Zemax不是规范写法....

作者: qhyocean 时间: 2006-6-2 20:02

开眼了啊，多写楼主.

作者: gu97c 时间: 2006-6-5 02:41

呵呵，楼主辛苦了。。。。。。。。。。

作者: krypton 时间: 2007-8-1 14:01

涨知识了。多谢楼主啊呵呵。

作者: neargray 时间: 2013-2-20 22:21
不错的文章！

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