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Physics & Astronomy

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Optics, 4/E
Eugene Hecht, Adelphi University

ISBN-10: 0805385665
ISBN-13: 9780805385663

Publisher: Addison-Wesley
Copyright: 2002
Format: Cloth; 680 pp
Published: 08/02/2001

Suggested retail price: $135.40
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Accurate, authoritative, and comprehensive, Optics, Fourth Edition has been revised to provide students with the most up-to-date coverage of optics. The market leader for over a decade, this text provides a balance of theory and instrumentation, while also including the necessary classical background. The writing style is lively and accessible.

  • NEW AND UPDATED! New illustrations and photos, as well as revised art, are included throughout enhancing the already outstanding visual pedagogy of this textbook.
  • UPDATED! Chapter 3 Electromagnetic Theory, Photons, and Light has been fully revised and updated to reflect advances in the field.
  • REVISED! The instructor's solution manual now includes all of the answers that are not in the back of the book and has a new and improved design.
  • The text employs a careful balance of theory and instrumentation and provides students with the necessary classical background.
  • Coherence is introduced early on in the text and leads immediately into a discussion of Young's Experiments. To underscore the quantum mechanical nature of interference, many optical interference photos are accompanied by equivalent material particle fringe patterns.
  • Complete solutions to many problems are included at the back of the text providing an invaluable study aide for students.



1. A Brief History.


2. Wave Motion.


UPDATED! 3. Electromagnetic Theory, Photons, and Light.


4. The Propagation of Light.


5. Geometrical Optics.


6. More on Geometrical Optics.


7. The Superposition of Waves. 


8. Polarization.


9. Interference.


10. Diffraction.


11. Fourier Optics.


12. Basics of Coherence Theory.


13. Modern Optics: Lasers and Other Topics.

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Pearson Higher Education offers special pricing when you choose to package your text with other student resources. If you're interested in creating a cost-saving package for your students contact your Pearson Higher Education representative.


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