1 comments about Clinical Optics.

1. i'm sweet on the size and concise format of this book but i am also sour about the outdated nature of the material......it desperately needs an update. but worst of all is the plethora of misleading diagrams, really counterproductive in truth. still, texts on this subject matter are few and most avoid diagrams far more. the scope is broad but the bias is not towards current treatment and instrumentation.

No comments about Quantum Noise: A Handbook of Markovian and Non-Markovian Quantum Stochastic Methods with Applications to Quantum Optics (Springer Series in Synergetics).

1 comments about Statistical Optics (Wiley Classics Library).

1. Since I'm an optics graduate student beginning my research on image through atmosphere turbulance, I'm eager to find a book of statistic optics which can be both a classical one and easy of self-studying, in fact, I don't want to waste a lot of time jumping from one book to another trying to get the right one for me. One friend of mine introduced this book to me, also because it is written by goodman, whose book "Introduction to Fourier Optics" is one of the best books I've ever read, I did have a try on this book, "Statistical Optics". It's really well written and good organized, I read all through the book, especially on the chapter focus on the theory of partial coherence, imaging with partially coherent light, and atmospheric degradations of images. I obtained not only some basic concepts from it, even got some inspiration for the research work I'm doing. Thank you, Prof. Goodman. Thank you for offering another classical optics textbook to the optics student!

5 comments about Lasers and Electro-optics: Fundamentals and Engineering.

1. As a graduate student majoring optics, this is the kind of book that I always want to keep near me. This book combines important topics of laser, electro-optics, and more in a well organized manner. So anyone involved in laser, eletro-optics, and photinics can refer to only one book for the basic principles. The math is not so difficult and every derivation is worked out quite thoroughly. There are many useful examples of latest systems, elements too. However, the early part covering laser is not so detailed as the other laser books, although the second half dealing with electro-optics is excellent in every aspect. I had a quite hard time with Yariv's book of optical electronics, but feel pretty comfortable with this book. Highly recommendable to anyone majoring the field of laser, photonics.



2. I highly recommend this text. As a student under Prof Davis in 1995-96 I used his text extensively and found it to be extremely well designed and though in all regards.



3. This book is intended for a graduate-level course on lasers. While covering a number of subjects in depth, there are a large number of mistakes. There has been two reprintings with corrections, so I would hate to have seen the first printing. There are many mistakes in the equations (usually easily ferreted out) as well as in the problems. The problems can be very frustrating as they are often as clear as mud. Overall however, the book does do a good job of covering most topics, but if you are looking for a better lasers book, I would go with Verdeyen's Laser Electronics (ISBN:013706666X) or Siegman's Lasers (ISBN: 0935702113)



4. Davis offers a comprehensive sweep of the subject of lasers and electro-optics. Lasers are inherently quantum devices, and the text starts with a straightforwardly clear explanation based on elementary quantisation of energy levels. Flowing from this, various types of lasers are described. The historically important ruby laser, which was the first laser ever made. Gas lasers, like the He-Ne, are explained. Along with the Nd-YAG and Argon lasers. Dye lasers, with their tunable ability, are not neglected.
   
   But for electro-optical purposes, it is the solid state lasers that are the most significant. Davis describes the theory of heterojunctions, and how LEDs and lasers can be made and operated, based on these. There is a minimal explanation of solid state band structure. Enough to explain the devices at an engineering level. Though physics students might want to consult a text like Ashcroft and Mermin or Kittel for a more thorough excursion into the physics.
   
   Given the book's title, the text also devotes substantial space to explaining electro-optical elements and the circuits from which these can be made. Switches and detectors are well described.



5. Starting from Einstein's coefficients in Chapter 1 for stimulated emission this book tries to cover optical system, resonators, Solid-state Lasers, Gas Lasers and so on. Later Chapters deals with Coherence Theory, Laser Applications including holography and Laser Plasma generation. As a Laser Engineer I recommend this book for its efforts in trying to cover all the subfields in Lasers starting from the very beginning and taking complex issues one by one in a systematic way. Professor Davis surely deserves much kudos for writing materials in a easy and reader friendly way. Overall a very good intermediate level text on Laser!

3 comments about Last Minute Optics: A Concise Review of Optics, Refraction and Contact Lenses.

1. As a reference book, this little handbook falls short.

   As alearning tool it is also lacking, with little detail or helpfuldiagrams.

   However, as a study tool, this review should serve the student well if he/she had a real reference from which to learn. That is, in fact, what it markets itself to be -- a last minute study review -- so no false advertising here.

   Kirk Carver, Patient Advocate,...




2. Throw away the Academy of Ophthalmology's optics book. This concise text is all you need. If you read it carefully, do the problems and really learn what it teaches, you will score very well on the OKAPs and board exams.



3. it is not a standard text, not meant to be. but it is a very practical review with practical information and applications not found in many standard texts. the information is also pretty current and accurate, albeit paltry. definitely a good read the month before the exam, and the best review material for those finished with the exams. a nice fresh approach to a tedious task all in all. good one!

4 comments about Semiconductor Optics.

1. I want to look at this book



2. don't buy this boo



3. This book covers the basics of optical processes in semiconductors from an experimentalist perspective. Therefore the theory is a bit light, but all the concepts are there as well as many useful insights. An excellent introduction to the subject.



4. This book is a very comprehensive treatment of semiconductor optics. At the begining, I was hesitant to buy it. So I borrowed an older edition from our library. I was so much impressed, that I bought my own copy. A colleague of mine is so much impressed by the lucidity of arguments in the book, that he reads a passage from it for us at work every once in a while. This book spans the breadth of the subject from basic the fundamental concepts of optics and solid state physics to the more advanced such as semiconductor Bloch equations. I highly recommend this book. If I teach semiconductor optics at any time, this would be the textbook that I will use (by the way, it has excellent problems at the end of each chapter.)

1 comments about Introduction to the Theory of Coherence and Polarization of Light.

1. The money chapter is Chapter 9, where the connection between coherence and polarization extends beyond mere superficial resemblance to something deeper. However, it is exactly here that the account starts to get somewhat frayed, in the sense that derivations become sketchy, and one must reach out to outside references to derive some benefits. This unification needs to be described more completely in words, because the reader is left to draw his own conclusions. I think this is the takeoff point for a better future edition.

2 comments about Fourier Optics: An Introduction (Second Edition).

1. This book is a good introduction to the theory of Fourier series, transforms, and optics. It assumes no previous knowledge of Fourier theory. Topics covered include the basics of Fourier series and transforms, the convolution theorem, coherent and incoherent imaging, and diffraction. Several example applications are treated as well, such as the theory of simple stellar and spectral interferometers.

   Despite covering all of these topics, this is a short book (185 pages). The writing is clear but not overly mathematical. The book is a good general introduction for a scientist of engineering interested in Fourier optics, but it will not substitute for a more technical and rigorous treatment.

   Paul Voyles




2. I used this book side-by-side with Hecht for a course entitled "Fourier Theory in Optics". I found Steward to be much more clear and readable, though at times less mathematically rigorous than Hecht. For someone who wants to learn what Fourier Optics is, I highly recommend this book. Steward starts from the absolute basics of Physical Optics and builds up to relatively advanced applications of Fourier series and transforms as they relate to Optics.
   One particular thing which I found he stresses more than Hecht is the relationship between the Fourier transform of the aperture function and the diffraction pattern. I found Hecht to be very unclear about this to the extent that you could read many pages of his description of Fourier series' and transforms and still have no idea what it has to do with Optics.
   However, I must add that Hecht goes into more depth in subjects like the calculation of the MTF and convolution.
   In short, this is the best book I am aware of for learning Fourier optics from scratch but as the name indicates it is an introduction, albeit a rather comprehensive one.

2 comments about Remote Sensing: The Image Chain Approach.

1. Most hard-core remote sensing engineers would love this book, especially those interested in the overall design and physics of sensors themselves. I don't reference it as much as other texts I own on the subject, although I do reluctantly consider it a "must have" for remote sensing students who are interested in pursuing the field further. The price tag was not student-friendly, however.



2. The other books on the subject of remote sensing mainly look like they were written by and for geologists. There is usually lots of tabular data, tons of prose on the subject, and very little in the way of mathematics or algorithms. This just won't do if you are a programmer or engineer who needs to know how the final product got to be the final product, from optics to sensors to image processing. Engineers understand via equations and figures, and this book delivers those details.
   
   Granted, the author does and must skip quite a few details when he is deriving equations such as the governing equation on the light that hits a sensor that appears to be coming from a target point. However, if the author was to go into those details the book would be 6000 pages long, not 600 pages. The part on image processing is OK, but still weaker than Gonzales and Woods book Digital Image Processing (3rd Edition). That book is essential if you want to manipulate the final product. Once again though, Schott had to delete some of the details in order to keep the book on track and on topic and prevent it from becoming an unwieldy tome. Highly recommended for engineers interested in remote sensing from an engineering standpoint.

1 comments about Biomedical Optics: Principles and Imaging.

1. This is probably the most practical text in the field of Biomedical Optics I have ever seen. The first one with practice problems so that a student can test themselves on their knowledge. It is also more coherent and easier to follow than the several texts in this field where each chapter is written by a different author and leaps from topic to topic in a rather fragmentary manner. I'd highly recommend this to professors as a standard textbook for a class.