Biography

Joseph Von Fraunhofer was born in Bavaria. His parents were Franz Xaver Fraunhofer and Maria Anna Frohlich. At the young age of 11, he became an orphan. He then became a glass maker's apprentice. The workshop where he worked collapsed and the Prince of Bavaria came to his aide. After the fact, the prince demanded that Fraunhofer be given time to work on his studies. The prince also gave him money to help fund his education. He became a pupil at the Institute at Benediktbeuern, a monastary devoted to glass making. That is where he learned many glass making skills. With these skills, he learned how to disperse light and measure it. In 1809, he ran the optical institute and eventually became the director. He became the leading glass maker in all of Bavaria. He received a doctorate from the University of Erlangen, was awarded the Merit Order of the Bavarian Crown. He died at a young age from heavy metal poisoning due to vapors from glass making. 

Fraunhofer's work with glass revolutionized telescope making. He figured out how to cleanly and safely polish the lenses. He made the process of glass making more efficient. He also would refract light to see the continous light spectrum. He would use lamps and prisms to show how light breaks up. He observed absorption lines through the spectroscope he invented. He used these lines to determine various substances power of refraction. He used the spectroscope to find the spectrum of the sun and other stars.