# I wake up this morning and I'm a member of Optica **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 20, 2021, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wake-up-this-morning-and-im-a-member-of-optica/950996 "2021-09-20T14:06:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2021, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wake-up-this-morning-and-im-a-member-of-optica/950996/1 "2021-09-20T14:06:26Z")
I used to be a member of the Optical Society of America (also, for a time, one of their editors), but I just learned that the society changed its name to **Optica** , which is also the name of one of their newer journals. They say this will not cause confusion, but I know people – anything can cause confusion. The change does make sense. OSA’s membership came from all over the world, and neither rank and file nor officers were necessarily from the US. Calling it “Optica” emphasizes its international nature. It’s just a surprisingly sudden and unheralded change. If you go to their website, they say that it’s not sudden at all, that it was thirty years in the making ( [https://www.osa-opn.org/home/articles/volume\_32/october\_2021/features/the\_story\_of\_optica/](https://www.osa-opn.org/home/articles/volume_32/october_2021/features/the_story_of_optica/) and [About Our Brand | Optica](https://www.osa.org/en-us/about/about_our_brand/) ), but this is the first I’ve heard of the actual change. Speaking of journals, I’m used to talking and writing about **JOSA** (The Journal of the Optical Society of America). What happens to that? Will it now be the jocular **JO**? ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2021, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wake-up-this-morning-and-im-a-member-of-optica/950996/2 "2021-09-20T15:27:04Z")
Good optics for the Optical Society of America to become Optica. It’s the optimal option for all opticians and optometrists. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2021, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wake-up-this-morning-and-im-a-member-of-optica/950996/3 "2021-09-20T15:32:39Z")
Love your optimism ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2021, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wake-up-this-morning-and-im-a-member-of-optica/950996/4 "2021-09-20T15:54:57Z")
> [@Chez\_Guevara](#): > > Good optics for the Optical Society of America to become Optica. It’s the optimal option for all opticians and optometrists. I see what you did there. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2021, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wake-up-this-morning-and-im-a-member-of-optica/950996/5 "2021-09-20T16:45:16Z")
Clearly something to keep an eye on. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2021, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wake-up-this-morning-and-im-a-member-of-optica/950996/6 "2021-09-22T01:41:14Z")
What about the ophthalmologists? ---
**Author:** ![UDS1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e47774/32.png) [@UDS1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS1)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2021, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wake-up-this-morning-and-im-a-member-of-optica/950996/7 "2021-09-22T01:46:07Z")
They are members of Ophthalmologica. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2021, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wake-up-this-morning-and-im-a-member-of-optica/950996/8 "2021-09-22T02:10:22Z")
I take it that this was not an optional thing for members? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2021, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wake-up-this-morning-and-im-a-member-of-optica/950996/9 "2021-09-22T11:44:24Z")
Not sure what you mean. The organization name change happened abruptly without any sort of group vote being taken – it was decided by the leaders. I suppose if people felt really strongly about it they could quit in protest, but how many people are going to do so? ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2021, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wake-up-this-morning-and-im-a-member-of-optica/950996/10 "2021-09-22T11:52:21Z")
My optician’s shop is called “optical”. It’s not a great name, because there are too many things with that name, so it’s hard to Google. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2021, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wake-up-this-morning-and-im-a-member-of-optica/950996/11 "2021-09-22T14:10:56Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Not sure what you mean. It was just a bad pun, following on the other bad puns. My apologies for the confusion! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2021, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wake-up-this-morning-and-im-a-member-of-optica/950996/12 "2021-09-22T14:35:29Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > It was just a bad pun, following on the other bad puns. My apologies for the confusion! Sorry. I’m slow this morning.