Be it eyeglasses or telescopes, camera or movie lenses, microscopes or
microsurgical instruments, the ZEISS brand stands for technology that
pushes the limits of what is possible. Relatively little is known about
the company's founder Carl Zeiss (1816 - 1888). Who was the man who set
about revolutionizing optical device construction from his workshop in
the small town of Jena ? Was the company established on solid
entrepreneurial foundations, or was Carl Zeiss surprised, and ultimately
overwhelmed, by his own success? The historian Stephan Paetrow and the
Head of the ZEISS Archives, Wolfgang Wimmer, have embarked on a journey
to discover the life and work of a man who was a husband, a technician
and an entrepreneur: this is the story of Carl Zeiss. This biography
also takes a look at how topical the Zeiss legacy is by talking to a
family member, company representatives and an extraordinary scientist of
the modern era.