Optics for Engineers is a combination of a textbook and a worked-examples manual, derived from three decades of teaching optics to graduate students. I recommend this book, which contains clear physical explanations for optical phenomena with detailed mathematical analysis.
The unique and outstanding features include: numerous worked examples; step-by-step derivations of key equations; explanations for all the required mathematics (vectors and matrices, complex variables, Green’s functions), which are also summarized in an appendix; problems with solutions; a comprehensive chapter on radiometry and photometry; MATLAB code; didactic diagrams and suggested readings to amplify the text.
The practical aspects of optics are stressed; the book includes a chapter on optical breadboarding, a variety of experiments, and sections on how to clean optics and laser safety. Interference and diffraction topics have excellent mathematical development. But the coverage of nonlinear optics could be greatly expanded, and adaptive optics could be added to the chapter on aberrations.
Review by Barry R. Masters, Fellow of AAAS, Optica, and SPIE.
The opinions expressed in the book review section are those of the reviewer and do not necessarily reflect those of OPN or its publisher, Optica.