Customer Reviews

Absorption and Scattering of Light by Small Particles (Wiley Science Paperback Series)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have found this to be a very useful reference for calculations of light-scattering properties of particles of various sizes and shapes. Discussions of subjects ranging from geometrical optics to Mie theory appear clear and complete. The book also includes computer algorithms for computing scattering properties of homogeneous spheres, coated spheres and cylinders.

Bohren and Huffman present a coherent and comprehensive description of absorption and scattering by small particles. The text is written in a very amusing style, where ideas are presented in a conversation like manner, as if the authors are directly addressing the reader, providing jokes and examples to illustrate their point. This text builds upon the description provided by Hulst in classic text, and provides a deal of useful information particularly related to absorption (not covered by the text of Hulst)!

The first eight chapters illustrate the basic theory of scattering and absorption, introducing expression and physics relevant to spheres, spheroids and a whole array of particles. This section is quite similar in spirit to the text by Hulst, requires a background in electrodynamics (to make it most useful) . In part II and part III, the authors discuss the optical constants of bulk matter and small particles respectively, citing examples of metallic as well as semiconducting particles. This book fills the need for a textbook for studying extinction coefficients of all kinds of particles, and is useful for physicists, chemists, meteorologists, material scientists, etc. Nonlinear optics is not covered, as also the effect of multi-particle scattering (and thankfully so)!

The book is very useful for people studying absorption (and scattering) of nanoparticles. It contains a good description of basic physics of plasmon resonance, extremely relevant to the research of people studying metallic particles. Bohren has written some really amusing as well as insightful "science" books on experiments and observations of physical phenomenon in daily life (and atmospheric sciences). This book is similar, with additional detail in terms of mathematical equations:)! Extremely useful for researchers and scientists even remotely associated with studies of absorption and scattering by particles! In terms of usefulness, this book is much better than the text by Kerker on similar topic!

The authors' lively and `user-friendly' style of presentation help bring material of an advanced nature within the reach of a larger number of readers than most books that deal with the subject at this level. I highly recommend this classic reference.

Very good choice of topics. Clear presentation. Caters to a wide variety of audiences.

I'd give it a 5 if it included a chapter devoted practical aspects of experimental light scattering measurements, techniques, and instrumentation.

This text has nearly everything you'll need to know about light scattering. It is easy to read and contains a ton of practical considerations. It even has some example Fortran code in the appendices to help with the tough calculations. It only took me a few days to convert some of the tougher segments into Matlab. The one thing it does not have are analytical computations for ellipsoidal geometry, which you'll need a whole separate book for. However, for the topics of 3D scattering from spheres and 2D scattering from cylinders, this book is the definitive text.

This book must be on the table of every researcher in light scattering field.