A History of the Development of Optics in Mexico

Abstract

Professional optics in México developed very slowly starting in the XIX Century an in faster way in the XX and XXI Centuries. There are some references about the polishing of surfaces in the pre-hispanic culture, and later on the building of mirrors for astronomical telescopes. In the past century, in 1938, the Facultad de Ciencias of the National University of México, (UNAM), was established to teach physics, considering the return of some Mexican students with graduate studies in United States of America(USA). A description of the birth, evolution and present state of the science of optics and its applications in México is presented.