Praise for the Previous Edition"This is a tremendous compendium of material, covering a relatively specialized field at a very considerable depth. It has 14 'chapters' written very authoritatively by 27 authors from the US, the UK and Japan. It contains current and up to date technology, and was edited by Gerald Marshall (also the author of Chap. 7), who is well known as one of the top experts in this field. "The Handbook's extensive coverage of the entire range of topics would seem to include almost every aspect of the field of optical scanning. Here, one can find anything one might possibly want to know about scanners and scanning. As a few examples of the completeness of this book, there are sections on laser beam quality, lens design, bar codes, air bearings, Gaussian diffraction, and much, much more. Even the table of contents only hints at the extent of its coverage. "The level of the book is high. Each chapter seems to be written by an expert in a specific sector of the field for an expert in the field. For example, I was very impressed by Chapter 2, 'Optical Systems for Laser Scanners' by Sagan. It can only be described as terrific. Even as an extremely experienced (60 years) lens designer, I enjoyed the many useful insights in Sagan's work. His chapter is very expert and very well written. "Even in its very specialized field, the book is so wide-ranging that I doubt that any one individual can competently criticize all of the book; I certainly know that I can't. The book is overwhelming in the completeness and depth of its coverage. "Surprisingly, I found something of interest, useful, and valuable in every chapter. Each is written for, if not exactly an expert, at least someone competent in the general broad field of which the chapter is a part, and it's written by someone who is obviously extremely competent in the specialty represented by the chapter. The material is basic, but it's far from being 'dumbed down'; one has to work to get the full benefit of the text. Appropriately enough, most chapters assume that the reader has a basic knowledge of the field. The chapters that I am competent to critique are excellent, well and expertly written." —Warren J. Smith, Chief Scientist Emeritus, Kaiser Electro-Optics "There are not many handbooks available in optical and laser scanning that contain the up-to-date research work in this field. This handbook is a timely addition to the current literature on optical and laser scanning. Editor Gerald F. Marshall has done a great job inputting together the excellent work of specialists, in the field of optical and laser beam scanning, from around the world…Each chapter has a good number of supporting figures as well as an extensive reference list at the end. The books language is simple and easy to understand the complexity of the subject. Readers will find this book as a useful introduction source to the rapid changing field of optical and laser scanning. This handbook can be a good addition to the academic as well as professional libraries and can serve as a valuable reference for those involved in the optical and laser scanning."—E-Streams, Vol. 8, No. 6/7, June/July 2005"It covers every conceivable aspect of optical and laser scanning and much more….Optics, mechanics and electronics are presented clearly and comprehensively. References are included at the end of each article. An index appears at the end of the book, together with a short glossary of 60 of the most important terms in the field. Among the several available books devoted to scanning, this one is certainly the most complete."—Optics & Photonics News, April 2006
