Humans had to travel a long way to reach the light sources of the present age. This book describes chronologically the stories and technologies related to many such sources. How the problem of finding an economical, practical and efficient light source was resolved is a long and interesting story.
The author has divided the book into eight chapters, and it begins with an introduction on the physics of light as an electromagnetic phenomenon. Then it goes on to incandescent bulbs, discharge lamps, plasma light sources, LEDs, lasers and more. A number of devices that produce invisible radiation are also covered.
This book is meant for a well-informed audience, so it would be most useful for graduate as well as undergraduate students and faculty in physics and engineering. I think it can also be compelling for optical and photonic scientists and engineers involved in product design and manufacturing.
Review by Reva Garg, Institute of Physics, University of Brasilia, Brazil
The opinions expressed in the book review section are those of the reviewer and do not necessarily reflect those of OPN or its publisher, Optica (formerly OSA).