Reading technical books is often compared to eating our vegetables, but J.F. James writes so well and includes so many personal and historical lessons-learned that I had difficulty putting this book down. (My favorite anecdote: Why the Andromeda galaxy never looks like it does in photos when I look at it through a telescope.) It is perfect for a pre-job-interview review of hands-on optics. James includes chapters on telescope designs, eye pieces, microscopes, cameras and CCD cameras, spectrometry, interferometers, E-O effects, detectors, as well as handling and cleaning optics. When you get to the last page you will still be hungry for more, which makes the three appendices even more welcome. The book is not quite perfect, but it is excellent and the best one I have reviewed this decade. It includes a bibliography and an index.
Review by George Fischer, U.S. Army, ARDEC, Picatinny Arsenal, N.J., USA.
The opinions expressed in the book review section are those of the reviewer and do not necessarily reflect those of OPN or OSA.