Systems engineering handbook: edited by R. E. Machol, W. P. Tanner, Jr., and S. N. Alexander. 1054 pages, diagrams, illustr., New York, McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1965. Price, $29.50
✍ Scribed by Thomas J. Higgins
- Book ID
- 103081481
- Publisher
- Elsevier Science
- Year
- 1966
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 184 KB
- Volume
- 281
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0016-0032
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
There are three distinct areas of optics which have undergone significant developments in the last twenty years, i.e.; coherent light ~,chnology, which includes the laser and many of its applications, optical correlation, spatial frequency filtering and analysis, and holography (no connection with handwriting analysis); optics of the solid s~e, including photodetectors and similar elements and overlapping with the coherent light area in the solid state lasers; automated pattern and character recognition, which is optical by association only. Specific devices and techniques in these areas, and combinations of them, are the subject of extensive study and development, and have a host of potential applications such as display and memory devices, logic elements in computers, signal analysis and synthesis devices, for signal transfer, for the analysis of photography, and many more.
The selection of articles in this volume on subjects in this broad domain represents mostly descriptions of specific devices. Fourteen of the forty articles deal with coherent light technology, also included are six articles which together present the most complete treatment of spatial frequency analysis and holography currently available in a single volume. Twenty-two of the articles involve topics in solid state optics, and eight deal with the subject of pattern recognition. The fact that more than half of the papers presented were by representatives of industry shows the increasingly important role played by industry in applied research.
In summary, the book should prove interesting to workers in the areas involved. However, it will disappoint those looking for a discussion of basic principles.
If one considers it in the light of what it is-a symposium documentation--it is a valuable and enlightening cross-section of the stateof-the-art.