Bruce Billings, 77; Widely Recognized Physical Optician

Bruce Billings, an internationally recognized physical optician who served both government and private industry, died Wednesday in Long Beach of pancreatic cancer.

He was 77.

Billings was chief physicist at the Polaroid Corp. during World War II while serving concurrently with the office of Scientific Research and Development and the military. He was considered an expert on infrared receivers and crystal optics and in 1966, while general manager of Baird Associates Inc., unveiled for civilian use “Eva,” a device capable of seeing in complete darkness.

He also had been vice president of Aerospace Corp. and most recently president of International Technology Associates and director of Physical Optics Corp. He was the author of two books: “Polarization” and “Application of Polarization.”