Patterns of Light: Chasing the Spectrum from Aristotle to LEDs [Hardcover]

Any student or engineer working in optics or the field of laser technology will find this a fascinating read. The book begins by addressing the properties of light as seen in the everyday world: events such as refraction in a pool, lenses in the form of glasses, the colors of objects, and atmospheric events. Latter chapters explain these events at the atomic and subatomic level and address the use of electron and optical microscopy in observing the worlds unseen by the unaided eye. Exercises and activities will be found in an appendix, but the primary volume can stand alone if the reader so desires.

Light is all around us. Vision is our dominant sense, and we are richly rewarded with a palette of colors from red to violet. Our eyes do not detect the l- energy, long-wavelength infrared (IR) radiation, but we know it exists from d- cussions of war applications and televised images of guided weapons targets. Our eyes do not detect the higher-energy (above visible light energies) and shorter-than-visible-wavelength ultraviolet radiation, and yet we know it is there from the sunburn we receive in Arizona. We also know that window glass can block ultraviolet rays so we dont get a burn while driving with the windows rolled up. We know about radio waves from the little boxes that talk to us and x-rays from the dentist office. These waves and rays belong to the same family of light, often called photons (from the Greek photos, light), that describes the spectra of electromagnetic radiation over 10 orders of magnitude from very low-energy - dio waves to very high-energy x-rays and gamma rays.The Path of Light.- The Reflection of Light.- Daguerreotypes: Light Captured.- The Refraction of Light.- Lenses: From Water Drops to Telescopes.- Sources of Light and Color.- Diffraction and Interference.- Rainbows.- Sea, Sky, and Cloud.- Polarized Light and Sunglasses.- Photons, Electrons, and the Atom.- X-rays, Ultraviolet Light, and Infrared.- X-ray Emission: Earth, l\