Mohammad D. Al-Amri
Mohamed M. El-Gomati
M. Suhail Zubairy
Editors
Optics
in Our Time
Optics in Our Time
Mohammad D. Al-Amri
Mohamed M. El-Gomati
M. Suhail Zubairy
Optics in Our Time
Editors
Mohammad D. Al-Amri
National Center for Applied Physics
King Abdulaziz City for Science
and Technology
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Mohamed M. El-Gomati
Department of Electronics
University of York
Heslington, UK
M. Suhail Zubairy
Department of Physics and Astronomy
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX, USA
ISBN 978-3-319-31902-5 ISBN 978-3-319-31903-2 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-31903-2
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016959602
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Foreword
Light has occupied a position of importance in our
attempt to understand the world around us. The
earliest studies going back to the dawn of civiliza-
tion related to our attempts to understand vision
and the properties of optical materials . The mod-
ern era in optics is rooted in the great work of Ibn
al-Haytham whose work on the nature of light and
its applications had a long-lasting impact. In our
generation, the discovery of laser has opened up
not only new areas of research but also had great
impact on a number of technologies. Lasers have
revolutionized the fields of communication, med-
icine, and biotechnolog y. It has influenced the art,
architecture, and printing. It is therefore befitting
that United Nations has declared 2015 as the
International Year of Light and Light-Based
Technologies to celebrate these great
achievements. Saudi Arabia is one of the sponsors
of this initiative that has ignited a number of
activities all around the world. This volume,
which covers the history of light and its
applications to many diverse branches of science,
contains articles by some of the leading scientists
who have played a key role in advancing the
frontiers in our own times.
Turki S.M. Al-Saud
King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology,
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
v