Lens design lives off of a century of craftsmanship in glass works. Learning optics begins with studying properties of singlets: Everyone, optician or not, has mastered the science of a singlet lens inside their own office or home. Then there are doublets found on many amateur telescopes. When combined to form a lens group, lenses become far more complicated to design, and optimize for image quality. Computer programs offer optimization routines for designing lenses. There is also optomechanics: The science of mounting lenses from 1 mm (microscope objectives) up to 10 meter mirror of keck telescope.
