Comprehensive in its scope and practical in its approach, this guide aims to help end users quickly and easily choose the laser best suited to their needs. Starting with a concise introduction to the fundamentals of lasers and optics, this book offers practical, up-to-date information on all major types of lasers for applications ranging from science, engineering, and manufacturing to medicine and entertainment. The second edition contains all-new chapters on X-ray lasers, free-electron lasers, fiber lasers, and semiconductor lasers. For easy reference, chapters on each laser share a common structure that includes - basic physics and optics, internal workings, beam characteristics and efficiency, operating requirements, reliability and maintenance, safety considerations and applications and commercial availability.
Jeff Hecht has been writing about lasers, optics and fiber optics for more than 35 years. After writing for industry magazine Laser Focus World for several years, he began writing books that explain laser science and technology to newcomers to the field. His books are aimed at readers from middle-school students to professionals. The New York Academy of Sciences gave his book Optics: Light for a New Age, honorable mention as one of the best children's science books in older age group in 1988. His technician-training and self-study book Understanding Fiber Optics is now in its fifth edition, with more than 100,000 copies in print.
After years of writing about new science and technology, he turned to the history of fiber optics, writing City of Light: The Story of Fiber Optics, as part of the Sloan Technology Series. More recently, he wrote BEAM: The Race to Make The Laser, describing the work that led to the world's first laser in 1960.
He continues to write extensively for magazines, covering topics from lasers to dinosaurs for New Scientist magazine, and continuing developments in lasers and photonics for Laser Focus World
