Customer Reviews

Electromagnetic Metamaterials: Physics and Engineering Explorations

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I ordered this book because I hoped - from the title - that it was a systematic, from first-principles introduction to electromagnetic materials at all wavelengths, by the two well known experts, Profs. Engheta and Ziolkowski. Unfortunately, the title is misleading. They are just editors and the book a recasting of a 2003 special issue of the IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation. The chapters are a collection of individual contributions on a range of research topics of interest primarily to the microwave and radar communities, including aspects of 'doubly negative' materials. For these readers there is a good deal of useful material on a range of fascinating subjects, such as space-filling curve antenna structures. However, I was a bit annoyed at having fallen for the publisher's trick of giving the book a more general title than the actual content would justify, probably in the hope that libraries will order it sight unseen.

Another annoyance is the poor printing quality of this volume, which looks as if it were run off on an office laser printer. The paper is gray (recycled?) and the colors are dull, with lumps of pigment. Some of the figure labels are so crudely rendered as to be unreadable. And this is a $150 book. What we are seeing here is a decline in the traditional business model of academic publishers. Once upon a time there was a steady market from university libraries to support scientific monographs, and professors such as these editors could be sponsored to sit down and write real books. Apparently this is no longer economic, when the readership is so small and so much is available free on the Web. We are witnessing the decline and fall of paper books in favor of electronic documents as the means of knowledge distribution, and publishers like J. Wiley may be headed out of business.

In essence, this book is a survey of the new field of metamaterials showing results and different material configurations. The book has a wealth of photos and figures. The theory is presented at a basic level. Equations presented relate to the physics of operation. Simulation data is generated with advanced tools which the reader must develop or purchase. Measurements require very specialized and expensive equipment. More in depth theory and applications can be obtained from a large number of referenced papers. The reader must be skilled in the art of metamaterials in order to understand these papers.