kb/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Nagler-0.md

title	chunk	source	category	tags	date_saved	instance
Al Nagler	1/2	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Nagler	reference	science, encyclopedia	2026-05-05T12:34:08.641821+00:00	kb-cron

Albert Hirsch Nagler (May 22, 1935 – October 27, 2025) was an American optical designer and amateur astronomer who was the founder of TeleVue Optics and inventor of the Nagler eyepiece. Nagler also worked in the Apollo program and built simulators used to train astronauts. Nagler was a prominent figure in the amateur astronomy community. Asteroid 10715 was named for Nagler in 1993.

== Early life and education == As a child in New York City, Nagler had interests in art and science. He owned a small telescope and was a teenage member of the "Junior Astronomy Club" sponsored by the Hayden Planetarium. Nagler later enrolled in the Bronx High School of Science with the goal of building a telescope. In the Scientific Techniques "shop" class taught by Charles Cafarella, Nagler ground an 8-inch mirror and constructed a reflecting telescope. Nagler exhibited this telescope at the 1958 Vermont Stellafane Convention and won a third place prize. He wrote an article for the December 1955 edition of Mechanix Illustrated detailing the construction of the telescope. After high school graduation, Nagler worked a variety of jobs in machining, chemicals, and drafting. He also took night classes for 16 years at the City College of New York and graduated with a BS in physics in 1969. Nagler met Judith "Judi" Pearlman in 1959, and they married in June 1961. Judi worked as a grade school teacher until the birth of their son David. She was also TeleVue's first employee.

== Career ==

=== Farrand Optical and NASA ===

Utilizing a contact from the amateur astronomy community, Nagler obtained a job with Farrand Optical as a draftsperson. Nagler worked at Farrand until 1973 and achieved the level of senior optical systems designer. Under contract with Grumman Aerospace Corp. and NASA, Nagler and Farrand Optical designed "Infinity Display" system simulators for the NASA astronauts. The systems projected images to the Apollo Lunar Module training device by using six foot mirrors and giant lenses covering the triangular windows of the Lunar Module. Nagler used ball bearings as stars in a spherical map projected via camera to the module as well as an intricately sculpted moon map. The astronaut could use both eyes to see the displays projected onto the triangular Lunar Module windows. In a blog post, Nagler described this system as a "giant eyepiece that swallows spacecraft", and this system was also demonstrated in the movie Apollo 13. This experience in building wide angle projection displays was inspirational in Nagler's later development of the 82° Nagler eyepiece.

=== Keystone Camera Company and Ambi-Tech === After receiving his physics degree in 1969, Nagler left Farrand and worked as chief optical engineer for Keystone Camera Co. Nagler traveled to Japan as part of his work with Keystone and made valuable contacts in the Japanese optics industry. Nagler left Keystone in 1976 and worked with a friend from Farrand, Matt Baum, to found Ambi-Tech, a company that would concentrate on building safety mechanisms for woodworking devices. Nagler worked with Ambi-Tech for twenty years. During this time, Nagler founded TeleVue Optics and ran it as a part-time business.

=== TeleVue Optics === In 1977, Nagler and his wife Judi established TeleVue Optics in Spring Valley, New York (later, TeleVue would relocate to Pearl River, New York, Suffern, New York, and eventually Chester, New York). TeleVue is a family business. Nagler's son David joined TeleVue in 1998. David's wife Sandy took over Judi Nagler's duties when she retired in 2008. David Nagler majored in communications at Syracuse University and promotes TeleVue via advertising, marketing, and internet. Nagler named the company TeleVue as an abbreviation of "television viewing" and "telescope viewing". One part of the business originally focused on projection televisions. At the 1977 Consumer Electronics Show, the projection lens system was billed as 'NASA Scientist Designs Projection TV Lens', and in 1978 science retailer Edmund Scientific sold Nagler's "5-inch super projection lens" in its catalog. TeleVue specializes in industry standard eyepieces and telescopes.

==== Eyepieces ====