Customer Reviews

Optics and Photonics: An Introduction (Manchester Physics S.)

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I found this book to present a brief overview of the rather large field of Optics. Derivations of many of the equations are omitted and some rather abstract areas are not expounded upon. However as a fast reading overview of the major areas of optics this book provides a good introduction or review.

This is quite possibly the worst physics textbook I have ever read. Our professor used it for an undergraduate introductory course in optics and I have to only presume that he was just using the book for the sake of testing it out. The book is totally inadequate as an introductory textbook for optics. I don't very well know where to begin and so for the sake of mentioning just some of its failings will be forced to inevitably miss some. For starters it doesn't explain any of its equations it presents, and I mean every single one! In writing this review I began searching through the book in hopes of finding something that was clearly derived but failed. Every single derivation involves extrodinary amounts of hand waving greater than in any physics related textbook I have ever read. In short the book doesn't provide the neccessary explanations that a student knowing nothing of optics desperately needs. The other major problem with the book is that its language is very confusing. At times it will use very vague language when dealing with very simplistic points resulting in a very difficult time in picking up even the basics let alone more complicated topics. Another problem with this book is that it seems to have a problem with defining terms. Curiously enougth one would think that this would be the most simplistic of things and yet it even fails here. At times in the book you will find yourself asking yourself 'what is that?' only to realize that the authors never bothered to explain it to you earlier. Although there are numerous other problems with this text I'll mention only one more for the sake of brevity. The questions at the end of each chapter are in no way representitive of what the chapter was just discussing. Additionally, they are frequently difficult to interpret and at times are so vague that one can't tell what is even being asked.

The only person to whom I could recommend this book to would be to a future author of a physics textbook. That way they would learn how not to write a physics book.

you cannot find long derivations or analytical justifications for what is proposed in this book. in contrast, you can read the adequate qualitative explanations for corresponding phenomena. i think it is a nice book to read on the bus/subway/train. i like it as a material scientist.