This book is intended for upperclass college students as an introduction
to the growing field of coherent optics and to the increasing number of
its applications, and also for those versed in other fields who wish to
gain per- spective and insight without detailed calculations. It is an
outgrowth of the author's Science Study Series book Lasers and
HolographY. * Besides being an updated and expanded version of that
book, it includes discussions of numerous recent applications. It
differs in its slightly higher analytical level and in the inclusion
oflarge numbers of references, which enable the reader to obtain further
information on subjects of interest to him. The level was selected to
match the capabilities of students in their middle college years so as
to permit them to make an early assessment of possible career interests
in any of the many interdisciplinary fields now embracing the
technologies of modern optics. It is hoped that the book can be used (as
has occurred rather extensively with another of the author's Science
Study Series books, Sound Waves and Light Wavest) as an auxiliary
reading assignment for students in various disciplines. The author
strongly believes that the promise of continued growth in this field, as
evidenced by the extensive participation in technology develop- ments by
industry, both within the U. S. and abroad, identifies the subject as *
Doubleday, 1969 (hard cover and paperback).