coining of the term confocal

Posted by O'Malley, Donald on
URL: http://confocal-microscopy-list.275.s1.nabble.com/coining-of-the-term-confocal-tp590068.html

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Hello.

Does anyone know who (or when/where) the term "confocal"
was actually coined?  I presume it refers to "conjugate focal
planes".  Possibly this is mentioned in Pawley's book, but I alas
do not have a copy.  I also don't know if it was mentioned in Minsky's
original patent or not; it seems that at this time Minsky referred
to the method as "double-focusing" rather than confocal, but I
do not have a copy of the full patent.

thanks for any information,
Don

Donald M. O'Malley
Dept. Biology
Northeastern University