"Version: 20251101"--Title page verso.Includes bibliographical references.1. The origins of plate diagram theory -- 1.1. Joseph Petzval (1807-1891) -- 1.2. Lancelot Hugh Aldis (1870-1945) -- 1.3. Cecil Reginald Burch (1901-1983) -- 1.4. To the present day2. The plate diagram for a single surface -- 2.1. First-, third-, and high-order -- 2.2. Useful first-order optics -- 2.3. The Schmidt telesco…