Customer Reviews

The Nature of Light and Colour in the Open Air (Dover Books on Earth Sciences)

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

 

 

It is impossible to truly review this book. Well over its 40 years old, it has become a classic. It attempts to explain, with little math but excellent science, everything we see from the appearance of the horizon, to the rainbow, to the light shining of telephone cables. This edition is old fashioned in appearance, there are no fancy full color spreads. It is a well written book, clearly organized that shows a grasp of the subject and a deep affection for it

Hundreds of optical phenomena visible to the naked eye are described in this classic text, ranging from colors in rainbows, halos, "sun-dogs" and other effects from water droplets and ice crystals in the atmosphere, to the iridescent colors of an oil spill and the visual effects of wet branches in front of street lamps. Explanations are aimed at the layman. Many line drawings and some b+w photographs accompany the sometimes wonderfully old-fashioned text. If you have ever wondered what some of the puzzling optical effects are that you see outdoors, then this book is for you.

My father gave me a copy of this when I was a kid. I've kept it ever since. The book is very easy to read, with plenty of line illustrations to explain the optics with as little math as possible. Though one will find some mathematics in the work, anyone who has taken high school physics, algebra, and geometry will have no trouble understanding the material. But what makes this work really shine is Minnaert's attention to detail when explaining the many kinds of behavior light exhibits in various environments. Everything from iridescence, refraction and reflection is given deep explanation through many examples of everyday phenomena. What the viewer might think of as distinct and separate optical effects, the author cleverly shows to be related. By the time a layperson finishes this work he or she will have a very good basic understanding of optics. Certainly well enough to ace that section of any undergraduate physics exam.

I couldn't put this book down!
As he explains the many fascinating sky and optical phenomena, Minnaert basically forces the reader to figure out for themselves as they read along with his explanations. It's very rare for a science book to pull together the big picture without losing sight of the underlying physics. This book wonderfully shows the workings of a scientist's mind, and the author's enthusiasm and creativity is infectious. Astronomers, artists and anyone with a passion for the beauty of the outdoors will love this book.

Beyond the standard 18-degrees-down-Sun definition of astronomical twilight, Minnaert pioneeringly gives the night sky background's appearance when the Sun is even further down, to -24 degree level, which I call Bortle-1 twilight, for pristine conditions. Throughout the book there are similiar extensions to and detailing of familiar and not-so-familiar optical phenomena day, night, and twilight outdoors, helping anyone to better interpret what one sees and what to look for. Many of these best features are edited out of the modernized, "colorized" (!) edition, which is why I recommend the original with its black-and-white mostly line drawings. As so well expressed in this book, twilight is a most dramatic, dynamic time to be outdoors taking in the marvellous, changing-color sky.

I met this book while studying the work of the artist James Turrell; Turrell mentioned it because of his huge importance on the facts concerning the psychology of vision.
Maybe some theories appear now old, but it remains a fundamental text for understanding how we look at the world (and at the sky!), and - quoting Mr. Turrell - for beginning to "see ourselves see". For example, you will now understand why the moon seems somethimes very big or very small.
I higly recommend also Craig Adcock's book about James Turrell, because it gives many other scientifical (not to speak about artistical!) inputs about the matter.

Explains many of the phenomena occuring in nature regarding both light and colour. Encourages active exploration by yourself. Good reference work but sometimes long.

The book makes an attempt to cover every single possible phenomenon that has to do with light and the outdoors. It tries to cover too many of them, too briefly and I have a hunch some of the material may be dated (check the publishing date!) Most explanations leave you feeling like you missed a few chapters and usually jump right into some heavily involved equations that the author does not lead into...he simply slaps equations into the middle of the page expecting the reader to figure things out as if this was his half written journal of ideas. Aside from being one of the worst reads I've encountered I guess the possitive take away is an introduction to some interesting phenomenons that I can reaseach elsewhere!