PHYSICAL OPTICS

The volume Tribute to Emil Wolf: Science and Engineering Legacy of Physical Optics emphasizes the man’s career and his pioneering contributions in the field. Mainly the product of a SPIE conference held in San Diego in 2003, the 534-page compilation explores Wolf’s work on the polarization of light as well as his collaboration with Max Born. Chapters are devoted to such areas as digital holographic microscopy, paradigm for a wave description of optical measurements, electromagnetic theory of optical coherence, and microscopic origin of spatial coherence and Wolf shifts. Optical pathlength spectroscopy, the Wolf effect in rough surface scattering, and dispersive pulse dynamics and the question of superluminal pulse velocities also are addressed. References and an index are provided. Tomasz P. Jannson, ed.; SPIE Press, Bellingham, Wash., 2005; $78, SPIE members; $92, nonmembers.