Field Guides – serie

A comprehensive guide to the striking and charismatic birds, mammals and reptiles of the Galápagos.Until the discovery of the Islands in 1535, the flora and fauna of the Galápagos evolved in isolation, producing strange and marvellous island species, as Charles Darwin found when he visited 300 years later. Nowadays many people visit the islands to see the unique wildlife and still encounter almost all the species that were present when Darwin visited. This is in striking contrast to the chains of extinctions that have occurred in every other large oceanic archipelago following the arrival of man.This compact, well thought out and clearly presented book provides a comprehensive guide to all recorded species. It is simple to use, the text is concise and the innovative use of digital technology has produced a remarkable collection of 53 colour plates. Distribution maps are included for each resident species.An informative guide of this kind will help everyone, from beginner to experienced naturalist.

This Field Guide derives from the treatment of geometrical optics that has evolved from both the undergraduate and graduate programs at the Optical Sciences Center at the University of Arizona. The development is both rigorous and complete, and it features a consistent notation and sign convention. This volume covers Gaussian imagery, paraxial optics, first-order optical system design, system examples, illumination, chromatic effects, and an introduction to aberrations. The appendices provide supplemental material on radiometry and photometry, the human eye, and several other topics.

Visual optics requires an understanding of both biology and optical engineering. This Field Guide assembles the anatomy, physiology, and functioning of the eye, as well as the engineering and design of a wide assortment of tools for measuring, photographing, and characterizing properties of the surfaces and structures of the eye. Also covered are the diagnostic techniques, lenses, and surgical techniques used to correct and improve human vision.

The polarization of light is one of the most remarkable phenomena in nature and has led to numerous discoveries and applications. The nature and mathematical formulation of unpolarized light and partially polarized light were not readily forthcoming until the 1950s, when questions about polarized light and the mathematical tools to deal with it began to be addressed in earnest. As a result, there is a very good understanding of polarized light today. The primary objective of this guide is to provide an introduction to the developments in polarized light that have taken place over the past half-century, and present the most salient topics of the subject matter such as Mueller matrices, Stokes polarization parameters, and Jones matrices.