Papers of Frank Back, optical engineer and founder and president of Zoomar Inc., an optical engineering company specializing in lens design for television, motion picture and single-lens reflex cameras. Born in Vienna in 1902, Back immigrated to the United States in 1939 after receiving a doctorate in science from the Technische Hochschule (Technical University) in Vienna in 1931. Back invented the optically-compensated zoom lens for television and single lens reflex (SLR) 35mm cameras. Back and his companies, Zoomar Inc. and Research and Development Laboratory, contributed significantly to the development of optical technologies for television and motion pictures, as well as astronomical, medical, commercial, and military applications in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. Materials include biographical documents from his early years in Austria; reprints and typescript drafts of Back's professional writings; several patent applications; correspondence, including a photograph of a letter to Back from Albert Einstein; miscellaneous Zoomar records and memorabilia; and biographical documents related to Back's brother-in-law, Herbert Lowen. The collection also includes photographs of Back, Zoomar facilities and products, and Back's meeting with Albert Einstein in 1955. The papers are arranged in nine series: 1) BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS, 2) WRITINGS BY BACK, 3) WRITINGS BY OTHERS, 4) CORRESPONDENCE, 5) ZOOMAR MATERIALS, 6) PHOTOGRAPHS, 7) MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS, 8) HERBERT LOWEN MATERIALS, and 9) ORIGINALS OF PRESERVATION PHOTOCOPIES.

Frank Gerhard Back was born in Vienna, Austria, on August 25, 1902. Upon completion of his secondary schooling in 1920, Back matriculated at the Technische Hochschule (Technical University) in Vienna, where he received his masters in engineering in 1925 and a doctorate in science in 1931. He worked as a self-employed consulting engineer in Vienna until September of 1938 when he moved to France. Back remained in France for less than a year and during the summer of 1939, he immigrated to the United States.

6.10 linear feet (5 archives boxes, 2 card file boxes and 20 oversize folders)

Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.