POLARIZED LIGHT

The 410-page book Polarized Light in Liquid Crystals and Polymers discusses the linear optics of birefringent materials, such as liquid crystals and polymers, and surveys light propagation in such media. It covers light propagation in micro- and nanostructured birefringent optical elements as well as the spatial varying anisotropic structures found in miniaturized liquid crystal devices. It focuses on high-resolution structures in display devices and provides an introduction to optical properties of liquid crystal texture. Toralf Scharf; John Wiley & Sons Inc., Hoboken, N.J., 2007; $99.95.