Feature

Getting It Together on U.S. Optical Standards

Robert E. Parks

In the U.S., almost any organization can write standards. If certain rules of fairness and objectivity are observed during the writing, these standards can become the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) national standards. However, if the writing organization keeps the copyright, these standards are not listed in the ANSI standards, but only in the publisher's list and in some privately published catalogs of standards. Even in these catalogs, standards relating to optics are seldom indexed under optics, but rather under the field in which they are used. For example, standards relating to methods of measuring waviness in sheet glass are listed as architectural standards because they are used for selecting window glass. Only by having a good idea of where to look, can these standards based on optical methods be located.