Introduction to Optics

Introduction to Optics is now available in a re-issued edition from Cambridge University Press. Designed to offer a comprehensive and engaging introduction to intermediate and upper level undergraduate physics and engineering students, this text also allows instructors to select specialized content to suit individual curricular needs and goals. Specific features of the text, in terms of coverage beyond traditional areas, include extensive use of matrices in dealing with ray tracing, polarization, and multiple thin-film interference; three chapters devoted to lasers; a separate chapter on the optics of the eye; and individual chapters on holography, coherence, fiber optics, interferometry, Fourier optics, nonlinear optics, and Fresnel equations.

Frank L. Pedrotti, SJ (1932–2010) was a member of the Society of Jesus and served on the faculty at a number of institutions including Marquette University from 1977–1994. He received a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Cincinnati in 1962. His research areas included solid state physics and laser optics and he taught and developed courses across the undergraduate curriculum. His course notes served as the basis for the first edition of the text Introduction to Optics that he co-authored with his brother, Leno S. Pedrotti.

Leno M. Pedrotti is a Professor of Physics at the University of Dayton, where he joined the faculty in 1987, after completing his Ph.D. at the University of New Mexico in 1986. He has published papers on a variety of topics in theoretical quantum optics, including the quantum theory of the laser, microcavity lasers, nonclassical states of light, and atom/field/cavity interactions. He has taught courses that span the undergraduate physics curriculum as well as selected graduate electro-optics courses.

Leno S. Pedrotti (1927–2008) was a Professor of Physics at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) and Chief Scientist and Senior Vice President at the Center for Occupational Research and Development (CORD). He earned a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Cincinnati in 1961. He joined AFIT in 1951, where he served as chair of the Physics Department from 1964–1982. At CORD he spearheaded the development of technical education materials for high-school and college students. His research areas included solid state physics and laser optics. He was a fellow of the Optical Society of America.