Books by Jeff Hecht

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) from Amazon.com

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 from Amazon.com . Inscribed copies are available.

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 . (Note that IEEE members can order at a discount through IEEE)

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) from Amazon.com. The revised trade paperback edition (ISBN 0-19-516255-2) includes a new chapter on the boom, the bubble, and the bust is also available - order City of Light: The Story of Fiber Optics (Sloan Technology Series) from Amazon.com.(Inscribed copies available)

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.

Understanding Lasers 2nd ed. -- THIRD EDITION NOW OUT - MORE DETAILS SOON

IEEE Press 1994 (ISBN 0-7803-1005-5). An introduction to lasers and related optical technology, intended for the nontechnical reader, richly illustrated and with little mathematics. (The first edition, published Howard W. Sams in 1988, was distributed by Radio Shack) If you're an IEEE member, check the IEEE web site for a special discount. Nonmembers can order Understanding Lasers: An Entry-Level Guide from Amazon.com .

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),from Amazon.com.

Laser Pioneers Academic Press, 1991 (ISBN 0-12-336030-7). Interviews with the scientists who developed major types of lasers, including Nobel Laureates Charles Townes, Arthur Schawlow and Nicolaas Bloembergen, and Gordon Gould, whose laser patents earned him millions of dollars and election to the National Inventors Hall of Fame. To sample the book you can read an excerpt on the great laser race. You can order Laser Pioneers from Amazon.com

Shifting Shores: Rising Seas, Retreating Coastlines Charles Scribner's Sons, 1990 (young adult) warned about the problems posed by coastal erosion and the loss of wetlands 15 years before Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans. Out of print, but copies of Shifting Shores: Rising Seas, Retreating Coastlines are available at Amazon.com. Inscribed copies available from author.

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 Now available from Backinprint.com as ISBN 0595094503 This was the first book to describe development of high-energy lasers, particle beams, and microwave sources as directed-energy weapons, and is the most detailed account in print of the technology proposed for controversial orbiting X-ray laser battle stations.Beam Weapons: The Next Arms Race is available from Amazon.com. [Originally published by Plenum, New York, 1984 (ISBN 0-306-41546-1)].

Book No Longer In Progress

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) college textbook. That excellent text was written by Eugene Hecht, whom as far as I know is not related. I highly recommend it for the serious student of optics who isn't afraid of math; click on the one of the links will take you to the Amazon.com page for it.

Why I added the 'buy me' links.

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 some of my books are specialized and 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.

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