I suspect that such a glass will exhibit excellent optical properties, and I therefore wanted to inquire whether you or one of your colleagues might be willing to test it for refractive index and dispersion to determine whether my above supposition is correct.Not long after Schott had completed his formal university training, he had become aware that Abbe had articulated the deficiencies in glass that was available at the time.

The deficiencies were particularly acute in scientific instruments for which optical performance of the glass in lenses such as for telescopes and microscopes is paramount.

Chromatic aberration causes the optical quality of the visual image to become dependent on the color of the light, resulting in a significant limitation of the scientific instrument.

Zeiss participated in the three-way collaboration by testing improved glass compositions that Schott and Abbe identified in actual optical instruments, such as telescopes.

[2] They created types of glass and examined their properties using silica, soda, potash, lime, lead oxide and 28 other elements.

Through these investigations, Schott discovered that the refractive index of a glass (important to its ability to function as a magnifying lens) could be disconnected from its chromatic aberration.

[1] By mastering the process of small-scale melt-stirring, Schott was able to create a homogeneous product, whose refractive index and dispersion could be exactly measured and characterized.

Based on his experiments, Schott worked with A. Winkelmann to develop the first composition-property model for the calculation of glass properties.

Their business enterprise also commercialized apochromatic lenses that had low chromatic aberration and was based on Schott's systematic investigations of the composition and properties of glass.

Carl Auer's incandescent gas lamps were first sold in 1894 and became a lucrative source of income for Schott's glassworks.

[12] Schott's business enterprise held a near monopoly on global optical glass from its inception until the start of World War I.