working out problems in his mind and
those doodles often ended in the shape of lenses239 Page 6
DOC
When World War II was over in the middle 1940's, Doc's military work was less intense. He even had time to do some more civilian work.
In 1946, Doc and the rest of the AO research laboratory sponsored experiments by Dr. Ernst WOLF of Harvard Biological Laboratory. WOLF was testing the effect of ultraviolet light on the eyes of young chickens. Doc took WOLF's results on the poultry and extrapolated the results to human vision. Doc concluded that "high intensities of these rays are detrimental and should be excluded from human eyes to prevent impairment of night vision. Fortunately, optical scientists have already developed protective lenses which will absorb these rays."238 Doc was referring to the AO Cruxite Lenses.
Doc's work habits were very informal. He liked to perch on desk corners and put his
feet on chairs. He doodled while working out problems in his mind and
those doodles often ended in the shape of lenses239
Bess HARTLEY was hired as Doc's secretary in 1947. She said that Doc's reputation for being a nice person and a difficult person was proven to her. When her mother became ill and needed round-the-clock care, Doc encouraged Bessie to work part time for as long as it was needed so she could care for her mother. Doc even met and became well acquainted with Bessie's mother and discovered that they had a mutual interest in tuberous begonias.
Bess often had the urge to straighten Doc's cluttered desk but whenever she did Doc became irate and would not speak to her for days. He wanted everything left just where he left it. He said he knew where everything was that way.240 Doc's desk always looked cluttered and was cluttered but he knew where everything was. The geography of his desk was known only to him but it was known to him and he did not want or need any help reorganizing it.241
Doc had an assigned parking space near the door that was very handy and close so that he would not have to walk far to get to his office. He was usually very prompt and had a reliable routine. The gateman who guarded the parking lot knew whenever Doc was out of town because if he was not in the space in the usual time he would not be there that day. One morning, however, Doc was late to work. The gateman, seeing Doc's space empty, allowed his friend to park in Doc's space. When Doc arrived for some reason the gateman did not see him. Doc saw that his parking space was occupied so he parked on the street. As soon as he arrived in his office, Doc called the gateman and berated him for allowing someone else to use his spot. The gateman was sure that Doc was out-of-town and that someone was playing a joke on him by pretending to be Doc. The gateman returned the abusive talk. The phone conversation grew louder and more obscene and could be heard up and down the corridors. Finally, Bess HARTLEY called the gatehouse on another line and had them tell the gateman that he was really talking to Doc. When the gateman realized his mistake, he became very embarrassed and contrite. When the whole story was explained to Doc, he smiled at the humor of the situation then had a good hearty laugh at it. Doc's angry words reinforced Doc's legendary temper at the AO.242
In 1950, when he turned 69 years old, he said meditatively to his friend, "There's so much to know and so little time to learn it."243
But Doc's work kept coming and the AO's Legal and Patent Department kept busy. In 1951, Doc developed the Round Top Lenticular Cataract Trifocal. This completed the cataract line of the TILLYER Cataract Single Vision and Bifocal lenses. All were made in Cruxite A to absorb ultraviolet rays which are so detrimental to patients with cataract problems.244
Doc had created a very efficient and productive team at his laboratory. His co-workers were his greatest fans. "His assistants think there is no one like him," wrote Ivan SANDROF in 1951. When Doc heard this was equally as complementary and was quick to point out that "one man cannot do it alone. It's the associates who have done most for me. I've worked with 40 or 50 in the past years and they're the ones that really count."245
Also, in 1951, Alton BLAKESLEE, an Associated Press reporter, asked Doc what was next for him. Dr. TILLYER replied that there still are "interesting possibilities." Doc continued, ". . . there is still much work to be done to extend the frontiers of optical science."246
Doc officially retired from the AO in the early 1950's but he continued to maintain his office and go to work every day. It was about this time that the AO wanted to expand into fields other than ophthalmic and went outside the company for a "high powered" optical scientist. First they found R. Bowling BARNES, who was made Vice President of Research. There was also a feeling that the research group ought to be in a more cosmopolitan environment so they moved to Stamford, Connecticut. This left Doc with little to do but he still went into the office every day. This lasted for only a little more than a year when the Research group came back to Southbridge and moved into a new building where Doc was given a small office. The AO hired Brian O'Brien, who was Dean of Optic at Rochester University in Rochester, N.Y. He replaced BARNES and brought many of his Rochester people with him.247
These newer employees often ignored Doc but the older workers knew Doc as a great problem solver and a great resource and used him quite a bit. The younger workers often dismissed him as being too old to help them. When someone had a new idea, Doc was always ready to listen to it. Quite often he would say that the idea had merit but someone already had patented it. Just as often though he would say that the idea was good and offer suggestions that would make it even better. He was a great teacher, mentor, and encourager.248
During this period he did not do much, if any, lab work, but he was there, always ready to listen to technical problems and contribute ideas toward their solution. His range of scientific knowledge was truly amazing, and he was more than anxious to share it. The impromptu teaching and sharing sessions usually had to do with optics but much of it did not. He would often be heard describing the workings of the new Buick's Dynaflow transmission or how a fan-jet engine worked.249 John DAVIS relates that when he was hired in 1939, he discovered that ophthalmic design is mainly trigonometry which he did not know. He asked Doc where he could take trig courses. Doc said, "Get a copy of CHAUVENT'S book. It was published in 1903 but it is still the best. I still use it."250
During this period, Doc's usual routine was to come into his office early each morning. Here he would hold conferences and discuss science with whomever would appear. He spent a lot of time roaming the research laboratory looking over the shoulder of each scientist and technician. He'd offer advice which some would accept. Doc's office was small and was cluttered but there was always room on his desk for him to climb up and sit. The atmosphere was always informal and anything but stuffy.251
On 21 March 1953, a newspaper reported "Walter Stewart, President, American
Optical Company, last night 
presented to the Optical Society of America dies for the Edgar D. TILLYER
Medal, which the company has created for a biennial award by the society for outstanding
scientific contribution in the field of vision.
"The presentation was made at a banquet at the annual meeting of the society at which Dr. TILLYER was a guest. The medal is a tribute to the achievements of Dr. TILLYER during his 37-year career in research for the AO The medal will be awarded by the society in 1954."252
In 1954, the Optical Society of America awarded this medal to Doc for his "outstanding research in vision." 253 STEWART, when he presented the dies to the Society lauded Doc in a flowery speech. In one of the statements STEWART made, he talked about Doc's career being consistent after having a good beginning. "This consistency of career has been one of the greater characteristics of Dr. TILLYER who, in his philosophy, his beliefs and his actions, has never varied from the scientific outlook. To us, in American Optical Company, Dr. TILLYER is a beacon of light to all of our younger men, and we look upon his career in the Company as emphasizing the enduring values"254
Dr. Brian O'BRIEN said, in part, in accepting this in behalf of the Society, "Edgar TILLYER is an old and honored friend. He is our elder statesman of optics, and I can think of no fitting expression of our respect and love for him than to have a senior medal of this Society created in his honor.
"His contributions to optical science and technology are so many, . . . but he has made another contribution which only those of us who have had the good fortune to work with him can fully appreciate. That is the leadership, the gentle guidance, the encouragement to the younger men in optical science. Always modest, frequently with a touch of almost elfin humor, it has been the more effective because it has been so inconspicuous. But when his achievements are finally totaled up, this may prove to be the greatest of them all."255
In 1955, the AO was hit with a catastrophe. The Quinebaug River, swollen with hurricane rains, overflowed and inundated the AO facility. The AO was nearly brought down, figuratively and literally. The water was up to the second floor of most of the plant. The workers watched as three story buildings floated past their offices. The powerhouse of the company seemed to hang in the air over the river, all of its supports having been washed away. The AO was out of business for nearly three months and was very close to closing permanently. But the AO's competitors came through offering materials and supplies, the AO employees dug and shoveled through the mud and the AO was put back into business. Actually, this event seemed to be a unifying event making the AO family closer. Doc's office and laboratory were spared because it was a new concrete building with sealing rubber gaskets around the doors and windows so Doc just tried to stay out of the way.256 257
In the early 1950's, Florence started openly exhibiting signs of mental deterioration. Once she was picked up by the Southbridge police sitting on the curb, in her night gown, slippers and Persian Lamb coat. She had no identification and couldn't tell them who she was, so they took her to the hospital in Southbridge and put her to bed. The owner of the gas station near her home on Maple Street saw her as he passed the room and told them who she was.258 Other stories, perhaps part of the same story was that she claimed that she had been mugged and her purse taken; that she was trying to walk back to her mother's home in New Jersey259, and that she was muttering about Teddies horses.260 Finally in August 1956, Doc was forced to have her committed into an asylum, Brattleboro Retreat, in Brattleboro, Vermont. She stayed there for ten months, dying on 14 July 1957.261
Describing Florence, who was called Nana by the grandchildren, Peter BLATCHFORD writes ". . . she was the most beautiful of women. Photographs do not show the love she bestowed on her grandchildren. She was a warm, cuddly and soft. Always there for a hug, to wipe away a tear. Even as a kid I had this feeling that she was not completely happy but she did seem cheery when any of the grandchildren were present."262
This left Doc pretty much alone at home. Although he did have a housekeeper, he spent much more of his time in the laboratory.
Doc was a smoker. At home there were many old pipes sitting upright in a small stand next to his easy chair. He also liked cigarettes. For a long time smoking in any part of the AO was not allowed because of fire insurance requirements. After a while, some areas were set aside to allow smoking. One of these areas was a conference room that had a large oak table and several chairs. Doc often would go in there to do his work and smoke at the same time. Often, people would walk by and look in the door to the conference room and see Doc bent over the table surrounded by sheets of paper and enveloped in bluish-white cigarette smoke. Often, Doc would get so engrossed in what he was doing, he would get up and walk into other offices forgetting that he was carrying a cigarette thus violating the fire insurance ban on smoking. In one office this happened so often that around the "No Smoking in This Area" sign the workers constructed a small fence suggesting that there was to be no smoking within the fenced-in area of a few square inches.263
Doc's inventions that were invaluable to the ophthalmic profession in addition to those mentioned are truly too many to mention them all. In addition to the ones mentioned earlier, a few more are described below.
An improved Retinoscope was made possible by Doc's development of a transparent reflector which allowed the doctor to see into his patient's eye clearer and allowed him to make a better examination of the interior of the eye.264
Isekonia Lenses which corrected the problem suffered by some whose eyes saw the size of the same object differently through each eye. Doc's solution to this difficult problem simplified the design eliminating a cumbersome graphical method then in use which involved more than 5000 linear feet of graph paper. With this simple, fast method that Doc had devised, commercial application of these lenses was made possible.265
Doc also developed methods for cutting electric crystals parallel to their faces and improved the use of piezo266 crystals in vacuum tubes to help in the improvement of radios.267
Doc never really thought of himself as an inventor or scientist. "I'm basically just a structural engineer," he'd say over and over again. 268
Doc's inventions have advanced the technology of astronomy, radio, television, industry, military, and have affected nearly everyone who wears eyeglasses.269
In 1965 the AO put the TILLYER Masterpiece Lens on the market. This lens was the first new single vision lens in thirty years270 and was designed by John DAVIS who would, in 1971, inherit Doc's position at the AO.271 The AO, in an advertisement, said that this lens was named for Dr. TILLYER and his 48 years in the service of the AO. They called him the "guiding genius of American Optical research" and compared him to "men like DeFOREST in radio, STEINMETZ in electricity, SALK in medicine."272
On 15 June 1966, at the age of 78, Doc wrote to a Rutgers Alumni officer:
Dear Charlie, I am very much alive! Go to work nearly every day. I am ashamed of the hours I keep.
We have had a great influx of young sec's and --; before they know their jobs. I never learned how to fill out a form, it has always been done without my even knowing it - until now - my sec's did it - I had three that stayed a dozen years each. That is why I didn't fill out the complicated form. I kept putting it off and forgot about it. I have three sons and one daughter - all Rutgers "Grads." I was very glad to hear from you. Not too many of my old friends are alive.
From your writing you must be a young man!
Best to you
Edgar D. TILLYER273
Doc, when he was in his later years, was a slight man with a large impressive head and
a soft mop of white hair.274 He was proud of never becoming
completely bald and said that his hairline was simply receding. But once he fell and
bumped the back of his head so hard he got a cut that had to be stitched closed. The hair
never grew in that spot again 
and he always tried to keep his hair
combed over the spot. His shoulders were stooping and rounded after so many years of
bending over the desk or laboratory tables275 and from age
in general.
He spent a great deal of time snorting and clearing his throat. He could smile and occasionally laugh in a kind of chortle.276 He had a warm, shy smile and looked like everybody's grandfather.277 But he was never really close to his grandchildren. When they visited his home, he'd try to talk to them but his topics were not what the children were interested in. Actually he didn't talk to the family about much of what he did because they would not have understood anyway. All the grandchildren knew that they were in the presence of a famous person and a great scientist so it was no wonder that it was expected that they should not be able to understand him. One time he told the grandchildren that someday all telephone calls would be sent by little bursts of light along wires of glass. Doc always had new interesting things around his house like a set of colorful ashtrays made of a new, light material - aluminum.
Doc in his Lab
Doc
enjoying his family.
Left to right: Doc with grandson, Robert Tillyer; Doc's son, E William Tillyer with David Tillyer; Florence Louise Lynd; Rose Lynd Hance; Ruth Irene Tillyer (nee Brown); grandson Tim Tillyer.
Doc was the man with the long gray mane that curled in the back of his head. He was the man in the disheveled gray suit - always gray. Family stories suggest that he would have several suits made from the same bolt of gray cloth.278
Doc always worked in a long sleeved white shirt and vest. The building he was in was a four-story building with no air conditioning so it could get up to 95 degrees in the summer and in the winter it got cold inside but Doc always took his gray suit coat off, hot or cold, to work. However, if he was going to see the top executives, he would put his suit coat back on. One occasion the AO Research Laboratory got a "hot job" to design an aspheric corrector plate for a projecting television system. This meant, however, hours of hand calculations because mechanical calculators were just coming out and were scarce and in short supply. By coincidence, a salesman visited DAVIS and brought a demonstrator calculator which he said he would leave on DAVIS' desk if he could get an order immediately. DAVIS went to Doc and explained how this computer would speed the design job rather than have to use the manual method and log tables. Doc struggled into his suit coat, ran downstairs to the controller's office and was back in ten minutes with a promise of an order. This is how the AO Research Laboratory bought its first desk calculator for $700.00 and how Doc used his suit coat to advantage. He knew how to cut through AO's red tape when he wanted to. 279
He drove Buicks and in his later years he tended to use the center line of the roads to guide him home. The locals knew the car and the driver and gave the big Buick a wide berth as it came by. He developed a method of parking parallel to the curb where he would drive up over the curb then let the car fall into the proper position. He also had a regulator installed on the car that would buzz whenever he reached 60 miles per hours. Doc would often ignore the noise, however, and drive for miles with the buzzer droning incessantly. This, however, just added to the unique atmosphere of riding with Doc.280
Doc was a terrible driver. One day Doc drove into the parking lot as it was being paved. There were orange cones all over redirecting traffic but Doc simply drove over them. He was a terrible driver. He was so bad that he would have to park one half mile from his favorite restaurant on Central Street because he could not park in close quarters.281 When the Buick appeared coming down the road all that was visible was the gray fedora hat. He was not a very tall man and it was difficult for him to maneuver the large car because he could not see what was around him. He carried a wad of bills in his pocket so that when he had a minor fender bender he could simply pay for any repairs rather than getting insurance companies involved.282 After a series of minor accidents and close near-misses, Doc's adult children decided that he could not drive anymore. They all knew what Doc's reaction would be when he was told that he could no longer be allowed to drive. Bill volunteered to take Doc's keys from him.
The family arranged for a taxi to take him to and from his office and home daily. Doc's reaction was what they had feared and Bill became an outcast to Doc after that.283
A common trait of Doc expressed by all of his business associates was his concern for
others. It seemed to make no difference who they were from young instructors, budding
optical engineers, secretaries or flower growers, he was patient and tolerant of those who
could not see the problem as simply as he did. Another trait was an amazing ability to
take the complicated and put it in simple terms. He was also unpretentious showing in his
preference for his old grey hat and an equally conservative automobile.284
Doc points to Tillyer Avenue, street named in his honor in a new sub divesion in Southbridge.
Doc died on 20 December 1973 after a short illness in Southbridge, Massachusetts.285
In 1992, he was installed posthumously in the National Academy of Opticianry.286
Looking back at Doc and his personality, Bess HARTLEY, one of his longtime secretaries, said "One might expect such a man to live in an ivory tower and perhaps be a bit eccentric. But Doc was neither isolated nor eccentric. He was quite definitely a people person and a very colorful one to say the least."287
Doc was truly a Renaissance Man - one skilled and well versed in all the arts and sciences - his skills ranged from glass technology to crystal oscillators, from growing exotic flowers to mechanical design.288
Doc was truly a paradoxical man as well. As accomplished and respected as a scholar and scientist as he was, Doc seemed to fail as a husband and father. His daughter Louise stated the family's feelings about their father. " None of his children were fond or close to him. Doc realized that but did not admit it to himself. He did everything possible to destroy love. We respected and admired his mind but we detested the man."289
Doc's legacy, however, is one of peer respect and admiration. His mind and his creativity benefitted mankind. He advanced society's knowledge and made the world a better place to live. To quote the January 1940 issue of Scientific American again, we owe a debt of gratitude to Doc that is so great " . . . that mere words cannot express it."
Edgar D. TILLYER was a genuis. Docs' vision, practicality, inventiveness and ability to make the complex seem simple impressed all those who worked with him. His discoveries and inventions advanced the technology of physics, electronics and optics and solved problems that were thought to be impossible to solve.
Yet it seemed that there was no record or memorial to this scientist establishing his place in history. In fact, his memory seemed to be fading as the mist in the morning disappears.
We decided that if we wanted to keep this man's memory alive, we'd better do it now. With the help of Doc's friends and family, we were able to develop a brief biography of this brillant man. We hope that by putting it on the internet we will be able to expose him to others and thereby assist to preserve Doc's memory and legacy.
Please contact me with any comments, additions, corrections or anything else involved with Doc's biography.
We hope that you find this useful and interesting
Tim TILLYER