本书是一本用英语编写的有关光学领域内的最新成果和研究课题等内容的教学教材，涉及内容广泛，为英语爱好者和光学爱好者提供了广阔的发展空间，是这类人士学习和工作的最佳参考书之一。

本书是国外比较新的一本光学教材，被国外多所院校指定或推荐作为学生的主要参考书。书中基本覆盖了我国光学课程的主要教学内容，课程体系也和我国光学教学相接近。该书语言生动，讲解清楚，图片丰富，还介绍一些光学领域的最新成果和研究课题。经过国内有经验的教师根据国内教学要求有针对性地改编后，该书更加适合国内的教学实际，具有很强的教学适用性，是一本非常好的双语教学教材。   本书可供普通高等学校物理类专业作为双语教学教材使用，也可供其他专业和社会读者参考。

1 A Brief History /l

 1 1 Prolegomenon/1

 1 2 Inthe Beginning/l

 1 3 From the Seventeenth Century/2

 1 4 The NIneteenth Centu ry/4

 1 5 Twentieth—Centu ry Optics/7

2 Electromagnetic Theory，Photons，and Light/11

 2 1 Basic Laws of Electromagnetic Theory/12

 2 2 Electromagnetic Waves/21

 2 3 Energy and Momentum/25

 2 4 Radiation/39

 2 5 Light in Bulk Matter/49

 2 6 The Elect romagnetic—Photon Spectrum/59

 2 7 Quantum Field Theory /66

 PROBLEMS/68

3 The Propagation of Light/73

 3 1 Introduction/73

 3 2 Rayleigh Scattering /73

 3 3 Reflection/85

 3 4 Refraction /90

 3 5 Fermars Principle/97

 3 6 The Electromagnetic Approach/105

 3 7 Total InternaI Reflection/117

 3 8 Optical Properties of Metals/123

 3 9 Famlliar Aspects of the Jnteraction Light and Matter/129

 3 10 The Stokes Treatment of Reflection and Refraction /134

 3 11 Photons．Waves，and Probability/136

 PROBLEMS/140

4 Geometrical Optics/149

  4 1 Introductory Remarks/149

  4 2 Lenses/150

  4 3 Stops/177

  4 4 Mi rrors/182

  4 5 Prisms /197

  4 6 Fiberoptics/205

  4 7 Optical Systems /216

  4 8 Wavefront Shaping /251

  4 9 Gravitational Lensing/258

  PROBLEMS /260

5 More on Geometrical Optics/270

  5 1 Thick Lenses and Lens Systems/270

  5 2 Analytical Ray Tracing·/275

  5 3 Aberrations/282

  5 4 GRIN Systems/310

  5 5 Concluding Remarks/313

  PROBLEMS/314

6 The Superposition of Waves…318

  6 1 The Addition of Waves of the Same Frequency/319

  6 2 The Addition of Waves of Different Frequency/335

  6 3 Anharmonic Periodic Waves/345

  6 4 Nonperiodic Waves/353

  PROBLEMS/367

7 Interference/372

  7 1 Gene ral C0nslderatiOns/373

  7 2 Cenditions for Interference/377

 7 3 Wavefront—splitting Interferometers/381

 7 4 Amplitude—splitting Interferometers/390

 7 5 Types and Localization of inte rference Fringes/407

 7 6 MultipIe Beam Interference/409

 7 7 Applications of Single and Multilayer Films/42C

 7 8 Applications of Interferometry /428

 PROBLEMS/435

8 Diffraction/440

 8 1 Preliminary C0nsideratiOn8/440

 8 2 Fraunhofer Dlffraction/450

 8 3 Fresnel Diffraction /493

 8 4 Kirchheft’s Scalar Dlffraction Theory /526

 8 5 Boundary DIffraction Wayes/530

 PROBLEMS/531

9 Polarization/538

 9 1 The Nature of Polarized Light /538

 9 2 Polarizers/546

 9 3 Dichroism/548

 9 4 Birefringence/552

 9 5 Scattering and Polarization/565

 9 6 Polarization by Reflection /568

 9 7 Retarders/573

 9 8 CIrcular Polarizers/581

 9 9 Polarization of Polychromatic Light/582

 9 10 Optical Activity/584

 9 11 Induced Optical Effects- Optical Modulators / 590

 9 12 Liquid C rystals//597

 9 13 A Mathematical Description of polarization/601

 PROBLEMS/608

10 Fourier Optics/615

 10 1 Introduction/615

 10 2 Fou rier Transforms/615

 10 3 Optical Applications/630

 PROBLEMS/665

11 Basics of Coherence Theory/669

 11 1 Introduction /669

 11 2 Visibility/672

 11 3 The Mutual Coherence Function and the Deg ree of Coherence/679

 11 4 Coherence and Stellar Inter— ferometry/684

 PROBLEMS/69l

12 Modern Optics：Lasers and Other Topics/693

 12 1 Lasers and Laserlight/693

 12 2 Imagery—The Spatial Distribution of Optical Information / 725

 12 3 Holography/745

 12 4 Nonlinear Optics /764

 PROBLEMS /770

Appendix 1/776

Appendix 2/780

Table 1 /781

Solutions to Selected Problems/787

Bibliography/823

1．1：Prolegomenon

In chapters to come we will evolve a formal treatment of much of the science of Optics，with particular emphasis on aspects of contemporary interest．The subject embraces a vast body of knowledge accumu-lated over roughly three thousand years of the human scene．Before embarking on a study of the modern view of things optical，let"s briefly trace the road that led us there，if for no other reason than to put it all in perspective．1．2：In the BeginningThe origins of optical technology date back to remote antiquity．Exodus 38：8(ca．1200B C E)recounts how Bezaleel，while preparing the ark and tabernacle，recast"the looking-glasses of thewomen"into a brass laver(a ceremonial basin)．Early mirrors were made of polished copper，bronze，and later on of speculum，a copper alloy rich in tin．Specimens have survived from ancientEgypt-a mirror in perfect condition was unearthed along with some tools from the workers"quartersnear the pyramid of Sesostris II(ca．1900B C E)in the Nile vaUey．The Greek philosophers Pythagoras，Democritus，Empedocles，Plato，Aristotle，and others developed several theories of the natureoflight．The rectilinear propagation oflight(P．77)was known，as wasthe Law ofReflection(P．86)enunciated by Euclid(300B C E)in his book Catoptrics．Hero of Alexandria attempted to explain both these phenomena by asserting that light traverses the shortest allowed path between two points．The burning glass(a positive lens used to start fires)was alluded to by Aristophanes in his comic play The Clouds(424B．C．E．)．The apparent bending of objects partlyimmersedin water(P 93)ismentionedin Plato"s Republw．Refraction was studied by Cleomedes(50A D)and later by Claudius Ptolemy(130AD)of Alexandria．who tabulated fairly precise measurements of the angles of incidence and refraction for severalmedia(P．92)．Itis clearfromthe accounts ofthe historian Pliny(23-79A D)thatthe Ro．Bans also possessed burning glasses Several glass and crystal spheres have been found among Romanruins，and a planar convex lens was recovered in Pompeii．The Roman philosopher Seneca(3B c E一65A D)pointed out that a glass globe filled with water could be used for magnifying purposes．And it is certainly possible that some Roman a~isans may have used magnifying glasses to facilitate very fine detailed werk．

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire(475A D)，which roughly marks the start of the Dark Ages，little or no scientific progress was made in Europe for a great while．The dominance of the Gre-co-Roman-Christian culture in the lands embracing the Mediterranean soon gave way by conquest to the rule of Allah．The center of scholarship shifled to the Arab world，and Optics was studied and extended，especially by Alhazen(ca．1000A D)．He elaborated Off the Law of Reflection，putting the angles of incidence and reflection in the same plane normal to the interface(P．88)：he studied spherical and parabolic mirrors and gave a detailed description ofthe human eyefP．216)．

By the latter part of the thirteenth century．Europe was only beginning to rouse from its inteUectu．alstupor．Alhazen"s work was translated into Latin．and it had a great effect on the writings of Robert Grosseteste(1175-1253)，Bishop of Lincoln，and on the Polish mathematician Vitello(or Witelo)．both of whom were influential in rekindling the study of Optics．Their works were known to the Fran．ciscan Roger Bacon(1215一1294)．who iS considered by many to be the first scientist in the modemsense．He seems to have initiated the idea of using lenses for correcting vision and even hinted at the possibility of combining lenses to form a telescope．Bacon also had some understanding of the way in which rays traverse a lens．After his death，Optics again languished．Even SO．bv the mid一1300s． European paintings were depicting monks wearing eyeglasses．And alchemists had come up with a liq-uid amalgam of tin and mercury that was rubbed onto the back of glass plates to make mirrors．Leonar．d0 da Vinci(1452-1519)described the camera obscura(P．237)．1ater popularized by the work of Giovanni Battista Della Porta(1535-1615)．who discussed multiple mirrors and combinations of posi．tive and negative lenses in his Magia naturalis(1589)．

This．for the most part．modest array of events constitutes what might be called the first period of Optics It was undoubtedly a beginning-but on the whole a humble one．The whirlwind of accom．plishment and excitement was to come later，in the seventeenth century．      （P1-2）

为适应当前我国高等学校各类创新人才培养的需要，大力推进教育部倡导的双语教学，配合教育部实施的"高等学校教学质量与教学改革工程"和"精品课程"建设的需要，国内一些出版社都陆续原版引进了不少海外优秀教材。海外优秀教材的立体化配套、多种教学资源的整合，以及为课程提供的整体教学解决方案，都有不少值得我们学习借鉴之处。但一个不容忽视的问题是，外文原版教材与我国现行的课程内容、教学体系、教学习惯等存在着巨大的差异性。譬如，重点课程的原版教材通常很厚，内容很多，容量是国内自编教材的好几倍。国外的情况是，老师未必会都讲，剩下大量的内容留给学生自学；而国内的情况不尽相同。受国内教学学时所限，完全照搬是不合时宜的。教材的国际化必须与本民族的文化教育传统相融合，在原有的基础上吸收国外优秀教材的长处，这使得我们需要对外文原版教材进行适当的改编。改编不是简单地使内容减少，而是结合国内教学特点，引进国外先进的教学模式及思想，在教学内容和方式上更中国化，使之更符合国内的课程设置及教学环境。

2004年伊始，高等教育出版社有计划、大规模地开展了海外优秀理科系列教材的引进及改编工作。在引进改编海外优秀教材的过程中，我们坚持了两条原则：(1)精选版本，打造精品系列；(2)慎选改编者，保证品质。

首先，我们和Pearson Education，John Wiley＆Sons，McGraw-Hill以及Thomson Learning等国外出版公司进行了广泛接触，经推荐并在国内专家的协助下，提交引进版权总数200余种，学科专业领域涉及数学、物理、化学化工、地理、环境等。收到样书后，我们聘请了国内高校一线教师、专家学者参与这些原版教材的评介工作，从中遴选出了一批优秀教材进行改编，并组织出版。这批教材普遍具有以下特点：(1)基本上是近几年出版的，在国际上被广泛使用，在同类教材中具有相当的权威性；(2)高版次，历经多年教学实践检验，内容翔实准确，反映时代要求；(3)各种教学资源配套整齐，为师生提供了极大的便利；(4)插图精美，丰富，图文并茂，与正文相辅相成；(5)语言简练，流畅，可读性强，比较适合非英语国家的学生阅读。

其次，慎选改编者。原版教材确定后，随之碰到的问题是寻找合适的改编者。要改编一本教材，必须要从头到尾吃透它，有这样的精力自编一本教材都绰绰有余了。我们与国内众多高等院校的专家学者进行了广泛的接触和细致的协商，几经酝酿，最终确定下来改编者。大多数改编者都是有国外留学背景的中青年学者，他们既有相当高的学术水平，又热爱教学，长期工作在教学第一线。他们了解引进版教材的知识结构、表达方式和写作方法，最重要的是他们有时问，有精力，有热情，有的甚至付出了比写一本新教材更多的劳动。我们向他们表示最真诚的敬意。  在努力降低引进教材售价方面，高等教育出版社做了大量和细致的工作，这套引进改编的教材体现了一定的权威性、系统性、先进性和经济性等特点。这套教材出版后，我们将结合各高校的双语教学计划，开展大规模的宣传和培训工作，及时地将本套丛书推荐给各高校使用。在使用过程中，我们衷心希望广大教师和学生提出宝贵的意见和建议。如有好的教材值得引进，也请与高等教育出版社高等理科分社联系。联系电话：010-58581384(数学)；010-58581354(物理)；010-58581380(化学化工)。E-mail：xuke@hep.com.cn。

高等教育出版社

2004年10月