Handbook of Optomechanical Engineering

Rating:
Summary: Recommended
Review: Optomechanical engineering is the mechanical design of the optics and related support structures in optical systems. Examples in which this is important are new laser systems, space and aircraft telescopes and instruments, biomedical and optical communication equipment, next generation computers, and imaging entertainment systems. Optomechanical engineering has in fact become as significant as the optics themselves. The topic is multidisciplinary and this work (in either printed or CD-ROM form) is the first substantial overview of the subject, previously found only in the journal and conference literature. The contributors have varied previous publications, but most have solid records publishing in SPIE (the International Society for Optical Engineering) conference proceedings, both as individual authors and as editors.

There are ten chapters addressing the following topics: optical fundamentals, optomechanical design principles, materials for optical systems, metal mirrors, lightweight mirror design, optical mounts, adjustment mechanisms, structural analysis of optics, thermo and thermoelastic analysis of optics, and fabrication methods. Each chapter ends with a list of references.

Much as the introduction of electronic reference works is welcome, one has to wonder what the true advantage of purchasing this work in CD-ROM might be. Aside from a rewritten paragraph about the editor, which introduced two typos in the first sentence, this handbook appears to be page for page an exact duplicate of the original printed handbook. Three possible reasons to purchase this do come to mind: the CD-ROM version has a search feature that is far more comprehensive than any index (although it can only be used chapter by chapter), it is a bit cheaper (according to Amazon.com), and it can be updated more easily. Yearly updates are planned and will be available for a reduced price. The text is viewable only, with no way to copy, cut, or paste any of the text. The navigation through the document is problematic at times. When one has clicked several times in a chapter, as opposed to simply scrolling down the page, there is no one-step way to get back to the table of contents. Instead, one has to click back and back and back and back and back. The only hyperlinks are from the table of contents to the beginning of each chapter and to the figures, which are in every case very near where the link is anyway. None of the figures can be manipulated, beyond changing the size, and there are no 'live' calculation features. On the back of the CD-ROM case, this claim is made: "More than simply handbooks on CD-ROM, our products are living, evolving documents - expanding as knowledge expands, growing as technology advances, and reaching to meet your information needs instantly." This product, however, is little more than a simple printed handbook.

The handbook was easy to install, although the system requirements are buried in the readme file, and not found anywhere on the packaging. The requirements are: Windows 3.1, 95, 98 or NT 4.0; Minimum - 640x480 256 color display; Recommended - 800x600 16-bit or higher color display; 12 megabytes of free disk space for Adobe Acrobat Reader install; 8 megabytes of RAM. Version 3.0 of Adobe Acrobat comes with the product, and is the recommended version to use. However, version 4.0 works also.