Wilson's first degree was in physics from the
University of Birmingham, followed by studying engineering at
Imperial College London. After completing national service in 1952, he resumed his work on optics. He then worked at Imperial College and at the
National Physical Laboratory in the UK. From around 1961, he spent 11 years as Head of the Design Department for telescopes at
Carl Zeiss AG in
Oberkochen, Germany. In 1972 he became Head of the Optics and Telescopes Group at the European Southern Observatory (
ESO), where he worked for the next 21 years, first in
Geneva and then in
Garching, Germany. His major contributions have been in telescope optics and technology. In particular, he developed the concept of
active optics, which is now the basic principle on which modern large telescopes are constructed. The concept of active optics was developed first in ESO's
New Technology Telescope (first light 1988), and then in ESO's
Very Large Telescope (VLT). (first light 1998). Wilson retired in 1993, writing a two-volume monograph
Reflecting Telescope Optics, a leading work in the field. He also extended the design of large telescopes to the next-generation designs that use three, four, and five mirrors. Wilson's other interests included history, economics, cosmology and biology. == Awards and honors ==