Customer Reviews

Optical Electronics in Modern Communications (Oxford Series in Electrical and Computer Engineering)

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3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

Here we go again. Another edition of the same book, without any significant additions or more emphasis. Yariv mostly puts together parts of what he had published decades ago in this book. He pays little attention to pedagogy and does not care to put connections between concepts in different chapters.

I could not find a spirit in the book that ties concepts together. Yariv jumps from one notation or symbol set to another without giving you any notice, which makes me think that he was more concerned with putting together his notes in a book format than trying actually teach you the subject. Publishing essentially the same book as another edition just adds insult to the injury.

Do yourself a favor and check out some other book on the same subject, such as Verdeyen's Laser Electronics. Or if you have to buy it, save yourself a buck or two and buy an older edition used.

If your looking for other editions of this book, you should know that the authors/publisher keeps changing its title. The 4th edition of this book was published in 1991 under the title of "Optical Eletronics" and the 6th edition of this book published in 2006 under the title Photonics: Optical Electronics in Modern Communications (The Oxford Series in Electrical and Computer Engineering). All editions are essentially the same, with modifications to the material at the end.

This book is one of the best investments you can do, it is worth every penny and then some. This text has the perfect mix of mathematics and amusement. It gives outstanding overview of all optics, photonics and fiber optic communication basics.The figures are good, as are the problems at the end of each chapter. As an optical graduate, I recommend this text highly to graduates and optical engineers. Yariv has a clear style and is a very good writer. The format is also great!

Same old, same old. This is more or less Qauntum Electronics in (yet) another cover. Yariv is a lousy presenter. The materials in this book are never really difficult. The reader, however, may have trouble following it from time to time just because it's poorly organized and presented. Make no mistake, optical electronics is no quantum field theory, and you should be able to pick it up over the time you spend over the commode. Rather than impeding your learning by battling the style of this book, do yourself a favor and get one of the several better alternatives already out there.

This book is outstanding. Yariv is very clear, he motivates topics very well, and he is very thourough in what he covers. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in fiber optics, lasers, non-linear optics, or waveguides.