How the Ray Gun Got Its Zap: Odd Excursions Into Optics

How the Ray Gun Got Its Zap is a collection of essays that discusses odd and unusual topics in optics. Though optics is a fairly specialized branch of physics, this book extracts from the discipline topics that are particularly interesting, mysterious, culturally relevant, or accessible. The
essays all first appeared, in abbreviated form, in Optics and Photonics News and in The Spectrograph; the author has updated and expanded upon each of them for this book. The book is divided into three thematic sections: History, Weird Science, and Pop Culture. Chapters will discuss surprising uses
of optics in classics and early astronomy; explain why we think of the sun as yellow when it is actually white; present how the laser is used in popular film; and profile the eccentric scientists who contributed to optics. The essays are short and entertaining, and can be read in any order. The book
should appeal to general audiences interested in optics or physics more generally, as well as members of the scientific community who are curious about optics phenomena.


Author: Stephen R. Wilk
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: 10/07/2013
Pages: 272
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.11lbs
Size: 9.53h x 6.42w x 0.91d
ISBN: 9780199948017

Review Citation(s):
Choice 04/01/2014

About the Author

Stephen Wilk is a contributing editor for the Optical Society of America and the author of Medusa: Solving the Mystery of the Gorgon (OUP; 2000). He holds a Ph.D. in Physics and has worked on Laser Propulsion and High Energy Lasers at Textron and MIT's Lincoln Labs, and has designed and built
optical apparatus at Optikos Corporation, Cognex, and AOtec. He was previously a visiting professor at Tufts and a visiting scientist at MIT.

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