Fraunhofer, Joseph von

Fraunhofer, Joseph von (1787-1826), German optician and physicist, born in Straubing. Fraunhofer instituted many improvements in the manufacture of optical glass, the grinding and polishing of lenses, and the construction of telescopes and other optical instruments. Fraunhofer also invented a number of scientific instruments. His name is associated with the fixed, dark lines in the solar spectrum, called Fraunhofer lines, which he was the first to describe in detail. His investigations in the refraction and dispersion of light led to the invention of the spectroscope and the science of spectroscopy. In 1823 Fraunhofer became a member of the Academy of Science at Munich and served as its conservator of physics.