No comments about Light and Color.

1 comments about Geometrical Optics and Optical Design (Oxford Series in Optical and Imaging Sciences).

1. This is a great book for the optical design student. The problem sets are challenging and test the student's ability to realize some of the more subtle points in optical design. Great sections on aberration theory.

2 comments about The Quantum Theory of Light (Oxford Science Publications).

1. For an introduction to quantum optics, the author is to be highly commended for keeping the mathematics and derivations straightforward and easily followed by a senior or 1st year graduate student in experimental physics. Unfortunately, he does not go beyond the math to discuss the physics which the mathematics describe. The problems he includes for students to work out are all derivation of formula with absolutely no application of formula. By the time I got throught the book, I realized that I still had no real intuition of how a laser worked, or any understanding of how to apply the quantized radiation field to any real problems.

   So if you're looking for a handbook to give you a simple tour of the mathematics in the quantum theory of light, this is the book for you. If you're looking for a more comprehensive treatment, look elsewhere. The selection of topics is very limited: too little math for a theorist, and too little physics for the experimentalist.




2. This is a decent book. I'd agree that it can be dry and focused on equations more than physics at times, but it offers a very balanced selection of topics, and clearer explanations than many physics books.
   
   I particularly like the progression from old quantum theory to semiclassical theory to the fully quantized theory. It emphasizes the useful aspects of each theory, in particular the usefulness of the old theory in terms of simplicity and accuracy in many situations. History may not always be the best approach to science, but it works if you emphasize the usefulness of simple models and how they follow from more sophisticated models.

2 comments about Rainforest Colors (Science Emergent Readers).

1. I really like the vivid pictures and colors inside this book. I bought it for my 3-year old son who is always talking about the rainforest. He finds the pictures of the rainforest animals very interesting. I only wish there was more rainforest in the background of the pictures, so that my son can see the animals in relation to being in the midst of the rich, vast rainforest. Nevertheless, it is still a fun book and will also be very useful to introduce colors to younger children.



2. This is such a great little book for little people. It's so inviting because of the colors. And the simple repetitive text(just two words per page) paired with the pictures allows a 3 or 4 year old to "read" the book! What a confidence builder! My sons have adored this book. I recommend it to others with children who are learning to read....board book or paperback. And the bonus is that they get science exposure. Buy it!

No comments about Introduction to Nonimaging Optics (Optical Science and Engineering).

5 comments about The Nature of Light and Colour in the Open Air (Dover Books on Earth Sciences).

1. Explains many of the phenomena occuring in nature regarding both light and colour. Encourages active exploration by yourself. Good reference work but sometimes long.



2. I met this book while studying the work of the artist James Turrell; Turrell mentioned it because of his huge importance on the facts concerning the psychology of vision.
   Maybe some theories appear now old, but it remains a fundamental text for understanding how we look at the world (and at the sky!), and - quoting Mr. Turrell - for beginning to "see ourselves see". For example, you will now understand why the moon seems somethimes very big or very small.
   I higly recommend also Craig Adcock's book about James Turrell, because it gives many other scientifical (not to speak about artistical!) inputs about the matter.



3. I couldn't put this book down!
   As he explains the many fascinating sky and optical phenomena, Minnaert basically forces the reader to figure out for themselves as they read along with his explanations. It's very rare for a science book to pull together the big picture without losing sight of the underlying physics. This book wonderfully shows the workings of a scientist's mind, and the author's enthusiasm and creativity is infectious. Astronomers, artists and anyone with a passion for the beauty of the outdoors will love this book.



4. My father gave me a copy of this when I was a kid. I've kept it ever since. The book is very easy to read, with plenty of line illustrations to explain the optics with as little math as possible. Though one will find some mathematics in the work, anyone who has taken high school physics, algebra, and geometry will have no trouble understanding the material. But what makes this work really shine is Minnaert's attention to detail when explaining the many kinds of behavior light exhibits in various environments. Everything from iridescence, refraction and reflection is given deep explanation through many examples of everyday phenomena. What the viewer might think of as distinct and separate optical effects, the author cleverly shows to be related. By the time a layperson finishes this work he or she will have a very good basic understanding of optics. Certainly well enough to ace that section of any undergraduate physics exam.



5. The book makes an attempt to cover every single possible phenomenon that has to do with light and the outdoors. It tries to cover too many of them, too briefly and I have a hunch some of the material may be dated (check the publishing date!) Most explanations leave you feeling like you missed a few chapters and usually jump right into some heavily involved equations that the author does not lead into...he simply slaps equations into the middle of the page expecting the reader to figure things out as if this was his half written journal of ideas. Aside from being one of the worst reads I've encountered I guess the possitive take away is an introduction to some interesting phenomenons that I can reaseach elsewhere!

1 comments about Photovoltaic Solar Energy Generation (Springer Series in Optical Sciences).

1. This book is a very useful overview of all levels of PV electricity generation. Topics range from device physics to installation and economics of PV systems to government incentives for promoting solar power. While the book isn't cheap in an absolute sense, it's hard to find such a comprehensive review elsewhere for the price.
   
   Given the book's broad scope and short length, it's no surprise the coverage is a bit thin in places. The device physics discussion is rather brief; you may want to refer to J. Nelson's book "The Physics of Solar Cells" or a comparable work to fill in details. OTOH, there is a very decent survey of materials and manufacturing techniques for inorganic cells. (Organics only merit a couple of pages in this book.) A discussion of the chief reasons that solar modules fail (in Ch. 10) was also quite useful.
   
   Some drawbacks: The writing style tends to be very dull and fact-laden. (The authors are Germans writing in English.) So much information is shoved at you that very few people will be able to recall it perfectly after one reading; but almost none of the topics I found most interesting were in the woefully inadequate index. Also, while Amazon shows a 2006 publication date, the book's copyright page says 2005, and there aren't any references with dates past 2004 (and relatively few past 2002, in fact). A howling factual error in the first sentence of the first chapter (PV effect wasn't discovered by Henri, but rather by Edmond, Becquerel) is an unfortunate blemish. And while this isn't necessarily a drawback, the book definitely has a European point of view, with less information about the North American market and none about the Asian market outside Japan.
   
   If you want to set up a solar power system for your home, this book isn't for you. It's also nearly useless if you want to learn in detail about how solar cells work. However, it could be interesting for engineers and scientists who want to understand the manufacturing, application and business contexts for PVs and solar power. The best audience is probably businesspeople (the proverbial "managers" of so many other book titles), especially VCs, investors and business development types who need a quick overview at slightly deeper than a "Scientific American" level of technical detail.

2 comments about Waves and Grains.

1. I like this book a whole lot. It holds some kind of strange attraction for me although it is definitely too advanced and mathematically quantitative for me to completely understand. Yet, I *really* like it... Hmm. Why is that? This book is a friendly and curiously unique presentation of practical & theoretical aspects of light (electromagnetism). Included in the book are discussions of the great ideas and men who helped advance our understanding of light - for example the book gives some discussion on the contributions of Newton, Young, Fresnel, Huygens, & Maxwell. This isn’t just the “History of Science” stuff, it’s written in a captivating style to put our understanding in a cultural context. Throughout the book are justifiably qualitative (fairly quantitative) presentations on the technical aspects of Diffraction & Interference, Polarization, Reflection & Scattering, and a neat chapter titled ‘Playing with waves (subtitled the "Voice of the Dragon"!)’. Finally my favorite and inspiring section, Science & Learning ('Self-Directed Learning'). I hope you give this book a chance like I did because, for me, there is a sea of information out there and I'm keeping afloat by sailing around in a boat which I'm building while I'm traveling the literally wonderful journey of self directed enlightenment. Dr. Silverman has sent out some fascinating building materials for me to pick up and try to incorporate. The book has brought me to the shores of a wonderful land, rich with appreciation for the most prevalent stuff in our Universe - LIGHT! Now I must confess: I am borderline incompetent when it comes to mathematics - so this book (like so many I try to wrap my brain around) escapes my full grasp. But I believe that it doesn't hurt to try stretching my mind beyond it's current capabilities. If anything, it makes me more flexible. My experience with this book has left me provoked to explore electromagnetism much further!!!

   IndiAndy Intellectual Adventurer & Explorer




2. Mark P. Silverman's "Waves and Grains", in much the same manner as his treatment of quantum interference in "More Than One Mystery" written a few years earlier, is a series of discrete but interrelated essays on different aspects of optics. The treatment is semi-technical, with analyses of the math supporting the various experiments and their interpretations. Speaking as one with no math background at all and no formal training in physics, I still found this book fascinating and thoroughly enjoyable. Silverman is something of a polymath, with wide-ranging interests, and he succeeds in bringing together concepts from different fields of study in unexpected but very fruitful ways. He surely must be a wonderful classroom teacher; his enthusiasm for his subject matter is contagious, and to say that his use of language in his writing is masterful is an understatement. Formerly a journalist, he is always engaging, and never dry. Throughout, his descriptions are a model of clarity, and the precision of his vocabulary in the simplest nontechnical sentences is awe-inspiring in its elegance. This is not a textbook, but any serious student of physics who doesn't own a copy is missing out on an important book.

   I got to the final three chapters of this book ("A Heretical Experiment in Teaching Physics", "Why Brazil Nuts Are on Top: Physics and the Art of Writing", and "What Does It Take...?") long after forming my impressions noted above, having first read Silverman's earlier "More Than One Mystery" with just the same amount of pleasure, and was gratified to find my reactions validated here. These chapters are entirely nontechnical discussions of the importance of an understanding of the physical world we inhabit, and better ways of imparting an enthusiasm for learning to students, which in themselves would make this book worthwhile for anyone sharing these interests.

   Much of this same material is presented for a general readership in his 2002 "A Universe of Atoms, An Atom in the Universe", a revision of the now out-of-print "And Yet It Moves: Strange Systems and Subtle Questions in Physics".

3 comments about Sundials: History, Art, People, Science.

1. You are used to seeing a sundial in the middle of a garden, and if you are like me, you look at the shadow, then compare the time to a wrist-borne chronometer, and note that the sundial is off by however many minutes. In _Sundials: History, Art, People, Science_ by Mark Lennox-Boyd I learned that this is at least doubly wrong. The author quotes Hilaire Belloc: "I am a sundial and I make a botch / Of what is done much better by a watch." He complements the wit of the couplet, and shows the errors. Firstly, he points out, sundials tell time perfectly well; they simply measure time differently than watches do, but neither of them is objectively "right". Secondly, sundials are not merely garden ornaments, and only one in this profusely illustrated and colorful book is from that category. The dials shown here are often scientific instruments and elaborate works of art that sometimes do not look like sundials at all. Not only are many styles of sundial illustrated here, but the science and history of making them is summarized; the reader will come away with a much better idea of how the solar system runs from the contemplation of these not-so-humble instruments.
   
   Lennox-Boyd (or actually Sir Mark, since he has been, besides a Patron of the British Sundial Society, a Member of Parliament and a Foreign Office Minister), says that the association of the dial with the garden began in the Renaissance, not because the dials were ornaments, but because teachers of the time often used the garden as a place where lessons of science could be delivered. There are pictures here of artwork and architecture that one would not expect to be sundials at all. The Sundial Bridge across the Sacramento River in California is a suspension bridge, suspended on one side of the river from a huge, slanted support. The support just happens to be slanted at the correct angle to make it a gnomon, and its huge shadow sweeps along the ground beneath. The huge sundial at Jaipur in India has a gnomon that is big enough to walk up, fifty steep stairs. A Dutchman has designed beer glasses that you turn until the sunbeam through a circle on one side of the glass hits the date line on the other side; you can then tell if the time is after 5 p.m., the time when the inventor says the glass ought to be filled. There is a picture of a spherical sundial invented by Thomas Jefferson. The Disney World offices in Florida are "entertainment architecture", and part of the fun is that a central room is shaped like a truncated cone and has gigantic sundials visible on the outside and the inside, with quotations about time on marble plaques from such notables as Albert Einstein and Donald Duck. Sir Mark himself designs sundials, some of which are shown here. The most ambitious is one in Oliveto, Italy, within the stair tower of a house; a system of mirrors sends a sunbeam during different times of the day to different walls of the stairwell, each intricately crisscrossed with lines to read time, date, times of sunrise and sunset, and more.
   
   Sir Mark points out that since we now have clocks accurate to more than one second in fifteen million years, sundials ought to be obsolete, but they are not. There has been a resurgence of interest in them, both in the historical forms and the modern ones which come in strange and undial-like shapes. "There is a particular symbolism in an object that does something helpful but requires no power and performs indefinitely," he writes. He is clearly fascinated with his subject, and this lovely and colorful book conveys the fascination perfectly.



2. This is an excellent book for the layman as well as for an accomplished sundial expert. It shows the evolution of humankind's interest in the passage and the marking of time. And if you look on page 123 you will see photographs of Kate Pond's contemporary sun-aligned public sculptures.



3. After having purchased almost all of Amazon's collection on sundials, I eagerly awaited this book's delivery. From the first page, I regretted not having bought it before as Sir Mark Lennox Boyd has produced a masterpiece. Anyone who has an appreciation for gnomonics should get this book. Although it contains technical information, it's the historical journey which is most engaging.

1 comments about Laser Light Scattering (Dover Classics of Science and Mathematics).

1. The material in this book is from 1981. It is not the cutting edge of laser physics. But the treatments are still valid. The derivations of light scattering are from introductory quantum mechanics. The Schrodinger equation and Maxwell's equations are perfectly adequate to describe the phenomena.
   
   The property of the incoming laser light is, of course, its coherence. Plus, typically, it is collimated as plane waves.
   
   Various applications in spectroscopy and atomic and nuclear physics are studied. Turns out that the spectroscopy lends itself well to various diagnostic and industrial uses.
   
   As with all Dover books, the price is very economical. When typical texts from other publishers might be in the $100 range.