"This book provides accounts of non-quantum optical phenomena and of instruments and technology based on them. While covering the conventional topics such as diffraction, coherence, thin films and holography, the book also extends to the less conventional topics: Gaussian beams and laser cavities (supporting laser physics), etendue, cd readers and confocal microscopes. Even the conventional material is given a fresh presentation, with standard calculations tidied, common errors avoided, and insightful connections made with other parts of physics. Problems offer opportunities for testing the reader's basic understanding, taking a careful route through reasoning, and checking orders of magnitude. In addition, many of the problems contain exploratory and critical material, such as investigating possible alternative approaches, asking searching questions about fundamentals, or solving apparent paradoxes."--BOOK JACKET.