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Book Reviews

Polarized Light Microscopy . By W. C . MCCRONE, L. B . MCCRONE and J . G . DELLY . (AnnArbor: Ann Arbor Science, 1978 .) [Pp . vii+251 .] No price given .

MICROSCOPY with polarized light is a cheap and rapid method for identification and qualitativeanalysis (by simple spot tests) of a wide range of materials ; not only crystals but a variety offibres and films having some degree of anisotropy can be studied . This book is astraightforward, unpretentious and elementary manual of such techniques .

There is a brief introduction to the optics of the microscope and to techniques such asphase contrast, interference, fluorescence and photomicrography . Then size measurement,crystal optics, staining, hot stages and microanalysis are discussed . The book ends with auseful sequence of laboratory exercises arranged to bring out essential points .

This book is for the beginner and it is obvious that in such a small space no very advanceddiscussion is possible, but within these limitations it does a workmanlike job and it can berecommended as a useful laboratory manual .

W. T. WELFORD

Optical Information Processing, Vol . 2 . Edited by ELVAL S. BARREKETTE, GEORGE W . STROKE,Yu. E . NESTERIKHIN and WINSTON E . KOCK . (New York, London : Plenum Press, 1978 .)[Pp . xi+452 .] Price $45 .00 .

VOLUME 1, with the same title, was published in 1976 and contained papers presented by agroup of American and Russian scientists at the first U.S.A.-U.S .S.R. Science CooperationSeminar on `Optical Information Processing' held in Washington in 1975 . This secondvolume follows the return meeting held in Akademgorodok near Novosibirsk in Siberia inJuly 1976 . The title is therefore not very informative and certainly is not as all-embracing as itmight seem .

The book contains 23 articles which cover some aspects of research into opticalinformation processing then current in the U .S.A . and U .S .S.R. It also contains biographicalnotes on the authors and good author and subject indexes . The range of topics covered is wideand there is little common ground. The largest group of six papers on related subjects isconcerned with optical memories . The rest cover a mixture of topics, including X-rayholography, three-dimensional image reconstruction, spatial light modulation, noise inoptical processors, two papers on optical image processing using feedback techniques, digitalprocessing algorithms and an introduction to integrated optics . Some papers are theoreticaland some very technological, for example one includes the measurement of the accelerationdue to gravity using a fringe counting interferometer to record the descent of a free fallingcorner cube reflector .

It is a great pity that there is no record of the questions, answers and discussion whichprobably followed each paper at the meeting . The papers are just presented in 'oven-ready'form with no editing .

Two papers in particular caught my attention : one by V . P. Korokevitch et al . on theSynthesis of kino forms in real time' using thin films of chalcogenide vitreous semiconduct-ors in which phase shifts of 2tt can be obtained by using material 10 µm thick, and one by A . A .Vasiliev on `Optical data transformation and coding' in which a liquid-crystal addressablematrix is used to produce transparencies corresponding to two-dimensional Walsh functions .

My overall impression is that this volume will just be added to the shelf in the library thatcontains those other little-referred-to conference proceedings .

R. W. SMITH

Planar Optical Waveguides and Fibres . Edited by H.- .G . UNGER . (Oxford: Clarendon Press,1977 .) [Pp . xvii+751]. Price £18 . 00 .

PROFESSOR UNGER, who is at the University of Braunschweig in Germany and is an authorityon waveguides, has produced in this volume a very comprehensive book covering manyaspects of the theory, design and fabrication of optical waveguides . The book analyses lightpropagation in optical waveguides with a view to the application of the planar type in dataprocessing and fibres in the field of optical communications .

After an introduction and brief history of the subject, the author begins by discussing theproperties of uniform plane waves . This chapter, which deals with propagation, reflection,