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Rating: 
Summary: Landmark text on the topic
Review: I am a researcher in the field of visual optics. I first obtained a copy of this book nearly 5 years ago, when I was a lecturer at the University of Auckland. I thought the book was excellent then and the subsequent passage of time has reinforced my view. I refer to my copy constantly. When I am dealing with a new and complicated topic as part of my work my first instinct is to check if Smith and Atchison have anything to say on the topic, and I'm usually rewarded. They nearly always provide good introductory material and analytical tools. The book contains very basic level material which is suitable for undergraduates in the area of clinical optics and develops these concepts to postgrad and research levels. The section on aberrations is extremely useful, although it does not use the Zernike polynomials that have become popular in the last few years, it has still allowed me to do useful analysis of my data. I have also found the sections on optical quality calculations extremely useful, and the appendices on schematic eyes are the most complete I've come across in the literature. I look forward to many subsequent editions of this text. An excellent book for researchers and students.
Rating: 
Summary: Good for Ophthalmic Optics
Review: This book has good content, particularly for ophthalmic optics. The description of optical aberrations is useful. However, the treatment of paraxial optics is confusing. The authors should avoid the use of symbols that are not writeable (e.g. Cyrillic), and obscure Greek letters. All in all, a useful book.
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