Nonimaging optics is the branch of optics concerned with the optimal transfer of light radiation between a source and a target. Unlike traditional imaging optics, the techniques involved do not attempt to form an image of the source; instead an optimized optical system for optical radiative transfer from a source to a target is desired. Early academic research in nonimaging optical mathematics seeking closed form solutions was first published in textbook form by W.T. Welford and Roland Winston in this groundbreaking book “The Optics of Nonimaging Concentrators: Light and Solar Energy” (1978).
