Patterns of Light: Chasing the Spectrum from Aristotle to LEDs

This book begins by addressing properties of light as seen in the everyday world: events such as refraction in a pool, lenses in the form of glasses, the colors of objects, atmospheric events, etc. Latter chapters would explain these events at the atomic and subatomic level and address the use of electron and optical microscopy in observing the worlds unseen by the unaided eye. The book is an elegant, and aesthetically pleasing volume that is intended for science students, and will be enjoyed by those with a background in optics. Exercises and activities will be found in an appendix, but the primary volume can stand alone if the reader so desires. There are several well-written and extensive volumes in the "physics of light and color" market; however, Patterns of Light will fill a niche by providing an overview of the entire electromagnetic spectrum, rather than simply focusing on visible light.