Light and Color in the Outdoors (Light & Color in the Outdoors) [Hardcover]

Marcel Minnaert (Author), L. Seymour (Translator)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0387979352 | ISBN-13: 978-0387979359 | Publication Date: March 30, 1995 | Edition: Corrected

All of science springs from the observation of nature. In this classic book, the late Professor Minnaert accompanies the reader on a tour of nature's light and color and reveals the myriad phenomena that may be observed outdoors with no more than a pair of eyes and an enquiring mind. From the intriguing shape of the dapples beneath a tree on a sunny day, via rainbows, mirages, and haloes, the colors of liquid, ice, and the sky, to the appearance of the sun, moon, planets, and stars - Minnaert describes and explains them all in a clear language accessible to laymen. This new English edition is supplemented by 80 plates, over half of them in color, taken by the acclaimed photographer Pekka Parviainen, illustrating many of the phenomena - ordinary and exotic - discussed in the book.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Minnaert's book is a gem!...It is a wonderful book that should be known by everyone who has an interest in the natural visual world." Am. J. Phys.
"...just about everything imaginable that refracts or reflects light or shows color...a marvelous book, one that I highly recommend to every observer" Sky & Telescope

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Dutch

Product Details

• Hardcover: 424 pages
• Publisher: Springer; Corrected edition (March 30, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0387979352
• ISBN-13: 978-0387979359
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #987,378 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Change-Your-Life Classic, August 26, 2000

By 

Edward Tufte (Cheshire, CT USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Light and Color in the Outdoors (Light & Color in the Outdoors) (Hardcover)

This deeply perceptive book changes our own perceptions of all kinds of light and color events in the outdoors. You will never see the same way again outdoors. Some examples involve elementary optics (which explain the visual phenomena) but nearly all the 278 short chapters can be appreciated by the visually alert reader. My favorite examples include dappled light, rainbows (there are always two), and differences between relected and transmitted light in seeing leaves and grass. The Dover edition is fine; the Springer-Verlag edition is better with its excellent color photographs.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great, great, great. Lives up to its promise., September 26, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: Light and Color in the Outdoors (Paperback)

Had the Dover edition (still available) for years, it's wonderful. Saw the updatedhardbound edition and shelled out fifty bucks on the spot, it's even better.If you have any interest in shadows, rainbows, halos, mirages, etc. you will find this book enormously satisfying. I've never seen such a wealth of phenomena so well observed, analyzed, and described. You will see more and notice more after you read this book. What is it? It's not quite optics, not quite natural history, not quite psychophysics or perceptual psychology. Unique. Reading Jack London and wonder what sun-dogs are? Reach for this book. Reading Hersey's "The War Lover" and wonder about the glory around airplane shadows? Reach for this book.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eye Pleasure, January 5, 2000

By 

Marcy Timberman (Palo Alto, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Light and Color in the Outdoors (Light & Color in the Outdoors) (Hardcover)

One of the most phenomenal books I've ever seen. This book describes and explains in very easily read prose, the complex visual phenomena of the natural world. It is almost a meditation on the natural world outdoors. I read it often not just as a reference. Be sure to read the introduction to the work. An excellent buy--I have purchased five copies over the years as gifts.