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Rating: 
Summary: Don't buy this book.
Review: Contains nothing but very abstract mathematical concepts and formula derivations that would only be of interest to scientists. This book offer NO examples or PRACTICAL insight on how fiber systems actually work. Useless.
Rating:
Summary: Don't buy this book.
Review: Contains nothing but very abstract mathematical concepts and formula derivations that would only be of interest to scientists. This book offer NO examples or PRACTICAL insight on how fiber systems actually work. Useless.
Rating: 
Summary: Good review of state-of-the-art of the field
Review: I read this book studying one of the courses during my Ph.D. and it definitely belongs to my bookshelf. My only complain was that while the basic theory and concepts are given well, the very recent developments are hardly systematized, notably in the chapter on optical networks. I am not sure however if this could be done better. The book also contains a number of errors.
Rating:
Summary: Do not buy this book
Review: If you are a beginner or student who has little or no knowledge of fiber optics and intends to understand it, do not buy this book. This book has only briefs on theories and lacks on application.
Rating: 
Summary: Something for everyone in fiber optics.
Review: If you read past the first few chapters you will discover that Agrawal provides you with a generous easy to understand explanation of the various aspects of the technology while simultaneously treating the most elevated aspects using advanced mathematical formulae. He has crafted an excursion through the technology that has something for all levels of expertise. Note that some patience and a second reading could be useful. However if you are in or around the business of communicating via fiber, this belongs on your bookshelf and you owe yourself at least two readings. It is that good. Hint: If you do not possess at least a Bachelors Degree in solid state physics, start reading at chapter 5.
Rating:
Summary: Shame for the 3rd edition
Review: The 3rd edition is published in 2002, but still has an extensive coverage on Coherent communication and Soliton. What a shame! Anybody knows that coherent communication and Soliton are dead since WDM became commercial deployment in 1996. On other hand, the author did not cover anything applications which are succefully beaten the coherent communication and Solition and are widely applied in the current optical communication systems (e.g., CRZ, DPSK modulation, high capacity DWDM....). It seems the author is not in touch with the industry for many years and is repeating the older and dead topics.
Moreover the software contained in the CD-ROM is completely useless.
Rating:
Summary: nice and useful
Review: This is a very useful text and reference book for electrical engineers and others who are interested. Its definitely meant for the graduate students and trained engineers and not for the beginners. I used this book as a graduate text and am immensely benefitted as I often require to revise many issues regarding my research. Provides many useful comparisons and references.
Rating:
Summary: great book for the right person
Review: This is GREAT book for people who have at least the basic optics and electrical engineering concepts, even if they dont have technical degrees, and who feel comfortable with the mathematical treatment of a subject, even when they dont understand every little detail. Actually about a third of the book can be understood easily by anyone interested in the subject, but if you cannot "read" mathematics and have never seen logarithms or partial derivatives before, then I recommend "Understanding Fiber Optics" by Hecht or a similar non-mathematical treatment of the subject.Overall the book follows a very logical pattern in its treatment of the subject. It is an overview-style book, covering the different parts of a fiber-optic communications system individually, and then tying them together (which I thought was the most useful feature of the book). Even though it covers many practial issues, it tends to read more like a physics/optics textbook than an engineering textbook or a lab manual. In summary if you have the basic optics/e.e. knowledge and are comfortable thinking mathematically, this is a great overview book for you, but if are a first time reader trying to learn about fiber optics, stay away from this book or use it as a second, 'reference' book only.
Rating:
Summary: great book for the right person
Review: To the 2 folks who gave the book a 1 star. It is not a book for people who are new to the industry, people with little mathematical background, or for beginners. The book is more or less straight forward for people who come from physics or optics backgrounds and have had at least 1 year of graduate school. In fact, there are quite a few useful and practical things in this book both for component and systems designers. I have found this book to be excellent both in industry and in academic environments. I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Not for beginners
Review: To the 2 folks who gave the book a 1 star. It is not a book for people who are new to the industry, people with little mathematical background, or for beginners. The book is more or less straight forward for people who come from physics or optics backgrounds and have had at least 1 year of graduate school. In fact, there are quite a few useful and practical things in this book both for component and systems designers. I have found this book to be excellent both in industry and in academic environments. I highly recommend this book.
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