DennisH.Goldstein_PolarizedLightThirdEdition

Polarized light is pervasive in our world, and we must understand it, measure it, and be able to use it to our advantage. This book is a comprehensive reference on polarized light for scientists and engineers working in a variety of fields. It also can be used as a textbook for advanced undergraduates or graduate students who have had calculus and linear algebra and perhaps a course in introductory physics. Polarized Light, Third Edition is an updated version of Polarized Light, Second Edition, Revised and Expanded as published by Marcel Dekker, 2003. Polarized Light takes the reader from a general description of light through a complete description of polarized light, and includes practical applications. It incorporates such basic topics as polarization by refraction and reflection, polarization elements, anisotropic materials, polarization formalisms (Mueller–Stokes and Jones), and polarimetry, the science of polarization measurement. This third edition includes substantive new material, and figures that were not redrawn in the second edition have been replaced here with new graphics, and black and white photos and color plates have been added. A completely revised historical review entitled “Polarized Light: A History” is included. The first two chapters are completely new, and are intended to inspire the reader to study polarized light, with a new “Introduction” to polarized light as the first chapter, and a new chapter on “Polarization in the Natural Environment” as Chapter 2. Chapter 7 “Fresnel Equations: Derivation and Mueller Matrix Formulation” has been revised. A chapter on the “Fresnel–Arago Interference Laws” has been completely rewritten and is included here as Chapter 12. The chapter “Polarization Optical Elements,” Chapter 23, has been updated with the addition of photos and improved diagrams. Additional new chapters “Form Birefringence and Meanderline Retarders,” “Techniques in Imaging Polarimetry,” and “Channeled Polarimetry for Snapshot Measurement