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Summary: Great intro to Optics!
Review: This is a wonderful introduction to the field of optics for an undergraduate with some background in physics and vector calculus (ideally a student at least in his or her sophomore year). The book has been said to be somewhat on the longer side, but because of the organization of the book it is easy to skip a couple of chapters that may be better covered in labs (e.g. geometrical optics and modern optics). Hecht has a clear style, outlines the required vector calculus and the wave equation in early chapters, which prepares the student for the rest of the book. Great stuff!
Rating:
Summary: Best all-around optics text since Jenkins & White!
Review: This text has the perfect mix of mathematics and amusement. Covering a very broad spectrum, Hecht gives brief historical introductions to the topics, includes the math needed for reasonable mastery of the subject, and often offers the reader a homemade experiment to demonstrate the concepts. The figures are good, as are the problems at the end of each chapter. As an optical engineer, I find myself referring to the section on Fresnel reflection often, but some of the later chapters on Fourier optics and coherence theory make fascinating and not overwhelming night reading. I recommend this text highly to undergraduate instructors and optical engineers, but perhaps the highest compliment I can give this book is that I frequently recommend it to technical people who rarely dabble in optics, but who need a readable reference on the widest variety of optics topics.
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Summary: Keep at it, Eugene!
Review: To be vitally human there are a few authors one must read - Shakespeare, Plato, Rousseau, Alan Bloom and Eugene Hecht. With only limited exaggeration - notable among man's achievements is Hecht's new 4th edition of Optics. The first edition was the central (and only) text assigned in junior year optics for physics majors at many universities in the 1980's. As a near adolescent I was pleased by expert writing and well delivered humor in those far off years of college life. The wonders of electromagnetics - which leads to everything in our modern age of electronics, radar, telescopes and computers - is beautifully clarified with clear pictures, concise description and completing examples in this new edition. I hope Hecht lives to be a thousand such that the hundredth edition of Optics can enlighten people in the 31st century with as much joy and fascination as his 4th edition does today. After so many years away I find Hecht there again to help me, not this time to peak inside the mind of nature but to make a living, and do so with added pleasure, knowing Hecht continues to improve the nearly perfect.
Rating:
Summary: Best Fundamental Optics Textbook Ever.
Review: Yes if you only buy one book to learn the fundamentals of optics this is the book you should buy or even borrow. My department adopted it a long time ago and Hecht is a very good writter. The format is great. The book does ask the reader to at least be familure with the concepts of Electromagnetism. According to my professor, the sections concerning Matrix Methods with respect to Len Systems and Jone's Matrices have some notation that is confusing. For a cleaner matrix notation we use Fundamentals of Photonics. The chapters on Geometrical Optics are excellent. The 4th Edition is a lot more visually appealing than the 3rd edition. But in terms of new material it's not much different. The book has so many diagrams and pictures that it really helps supplement the actual text a lot. I really reccomend this book for anyone looking for a solid foundation in classical optics.
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