John Dollond (June 21, 1706 - November 30, 1761) was an English optician. He followed his father's trade, but found time to acquire a knowledge of Latin, Greek, mathematics, physics, anatomy and other subjects. In 1752 he abandoned silk-weaving and joined his eldest son, Peter, who in 1750 had started in business as a maker of optical instruments. In 1758 he published an "Account of some experiments concerning the different refrangibility of light", describing the experiments that led him to the achievement with which his name is specially associated, the discovery of a means of constructing achromatic lenses by the combination of crown and flint glasses, which reduces chromatic aberration (color defects). The Royal Society awarded him the Copley Medal, and three years later elected him one of its fellows. He died in 1761 at the age of 55.