Understanding Lasers 3rd ed. -- THIRD EDITION NOW OUT
IEEE Press/John Wiley & Sons 2008 (ISBN 978-0-470-08890-6). An introduction to lasers and related optical technology, intended for the nontechnical reader, richly illustrated and with little mathematics. This new edition has been extensively updated to describe the state of the art in solid-state and semiconductor lasers, and a wide range of new laser applications. You can download a special offer to buy at a discount from the publisher, or you can order Understanding Lasers: An Entry-Level Guide from Amazon.com .
Understanding
Fiber Optics 5th ed Prentice
Hall, 2005. The latest edition of the standard introduction to fiber optics; over 100,000 copies have been sold. Available Now (ISBN 013-117429-0). In US call Prentice Hall
Direct at 1-800-282-0693, or order Understanding Fiber Optics (5th Edition)
Beam:
The Race to Make the Laser Oxford University Press, New York,
2005. The fascinating story of one of the 20th century's most surprising inventions, from the birth of the idea to the first working laser, and the surprisingly difficult aftermath. (ISBN: 019-514210-1) Order Beam: The Race to Make the Laser
Introduction to Laser Technology 3rd ed
Breck
Hitz, J. J. Ewing and Jeff Hecht IEEE
Press 2001 (ISBN 0-7803-5373-0).Order Introduction to Laser Technology, 3rd Edition from Amazon.com 
City of
Light: The Story of Fiber Optics
Oxford University Press, New York, March
1999. (ISBN 0-19-510818-3) A book in the Sloan Foundation Technology series.
See my fiber-optic
chronology and short
overview of fiber history. For near-immediate gratification you can order,City of Light: The Story of Fiber Optics (Sloan Technology Series)
Laser: Light of a Million Uses
with Dick Teresi, Dover, Mineola, NY, 1998 (ISBN 0-486-40193-6) is available from Amazon.com . It is a reprint, with new preface, of Laser: Supertool of the 1980s, originally published by Ticknor and Fields, New York, 1982, paper 1984. (Signed copies of the 1982 trade paperback are available). There also are Japanese, Spanish, Swedish, and Dutch translations.
Vanishing Life: The Mystery of Mass Extinctions,
Charles Scribner's Sons/Atheneum, 1993, (ISBN 0-684 19331-0) (young adult).
Tells about the five greatest extinctions that wiped out many species on land and in the sea, forever changing the Earth. For immediate gratification, order Vanishing Life: The Mystery of Mass Extinctions from Amazon.com .
The Laser Guidebook 2nd ed McGraw-Hill,
New York, 1992
(ISBN 0-8306-4274-9) (1st ed. 1986). A practical guide to commercial laser technology, written for engineers who need to work with lasers. It reviews all major types of commercial lasers, with details on typical performance. Order The Laser Guidebook (Optical and Electro-Optical Engineering Series)
Laser Pioneers
Shifting Shores: Rising Seas, Retreating Coastlines
Optics: Light for a New Age Charles Scribner's Sons,1988 (ISBN 0-684-18879-1) (Young Adult), Original edition is out of print
Beam Weapons: The Next Arms Race
The Ages of Earth with with Christopher R. Scotese. A history of the Earth for the general reader, amply illustrated with plate tectonic maps showing the changing continents, and pictures of the evolving life of our planet. It was fun to write, and would have been beautiful, but it got caught in a pair of publishing mergers. To see Scotese's wonderful maps of the Earth at various times in the past, visit the Paleomap site.
Book I Didn't Write
I am not the author of the widely used "Hecht" Optics (4th Edition)
All writers are familiar with complaints that readers can't find their books on store shelves. No matter how big the store, it can't stock everything, and many of my books are hard to find. I like to have my books read, and I make my living by writing, so I want to make them readily available. Thus the Amazon.com links. Yes, I get a little extra money if you buy through my links, but my main goal is to make my books easier to find. If you prefer to browse, please patronize your local bookstore; if they don't have copies, they can order them.
If you have trouble finding any of my books, please e-mail me at [my first name] AT jeffhecht.com. Publishers often don't tell authors if books go out of stock.