When this book first appeared in 1996; it was ldquo;Pottery 101;rdquo; a basic introduction to the subject. It served as an art book; a history book; and a reference book; but also fun to read; beautiful to look at; and filled with good humor and good sense. After twenty years of faithful service; itrsquo;s been expanded and brought up-to-date with photographs of more than 1;600 pots from more than 1;600 years. It shows every pottery-producing group in the Southwest; complete with maps that show where each group lives. Now updated; rewritten; and re-photographed; its a comprehensive study as well as a basic introduction to the art.
#883119 in eBooks 2008-02-17 2008-02-17File Name: B0013Y1UKG
Review
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. a bit disappointedBy pascal vallottonBased on other reviews. you expect a highly polished product - full of glossy enlightening diagrams and explanations. The book is OK and conveys many important notions of optics adequately. especially if you have some background knowledge. However. at times. it feels like a potpourri. too wide to be under control and lacking in rigor. The authors present a few formulas at times and assure us that they could write many more "if they wanted to". However. this book really feels like the work of practitioners - a bit thin on the theory side. Many figures have a printing quality too low to be readable (so much for the Nyquist criteria. which by no coincidence is presented quite poorly) and the chapter on diffractive optics is a didactic catastrophe. Just because a book has been around for a long time and is respected in the field doesnt mean that it cant be improved upon. Still. I find myself reading the book time and again. The book will complement nicely Born and Wolf. which lies at the other extreme.7 of 7 people found the following review helpful. Excellent "How To" for Optical DesignersBy Thomas C BarkerIn the acknowledgements the authors state they "wanted to create a book in the field of optical system design that was clear and easy to understand" - Mission accomplished!This book is indeed easy to understand but nevertheless provides detailed explanations of how to design an optical system. While not deeply mathematical there are sufficent formulaes provided (with examples) so you can understand what to do and how to do it. If you were puzzled as to why achromatic lenses are used you wont be after you read this book. The book also explains how distortion occurs and how to get rid of it. Also there are sections on mechanical components such as lens mounting etc. The book also explains how to use typical optical design software.My only (slight) dissapointment was the relatively few descriptions of typical systems - but using the book you could design these from first principles. Also to be fair there are so many designs out there that this is probabaly asking too much.I bought this book because as an electronics engineer I did not know enough about optical systems to be able to design one. Reading this book and downloading some freeware optical design software (and using the book to help understand the outputs) has solved that problem3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. One of the best technical books I ownBy John A. Dormer 2Having studied the comments on four other books before holding my breath and purchasing "Optical System Design." I was still worried that it would turn out to be a physics-oriented treatment of the subject despite the comments.I was happily surprised.Not only is this book well- and often humorously-written (to me at least). it has memorable explanations which make applying the knowledge easier.In particular. the excellent treatment throughout the book on the six major third-order aberrations causes has helped me use my optical design tools more correctly. I do not guess about specific changes. I know what to expect when making a change in the design.I have found over the years that purchasing two texts on a topic is a good strategy. One must be a "thick book." like "Optical System Design." and the other a "thin book" which serves as a map. Im still looking for the "thin" compliment to OD. but its layout and index are good enough that I will probably not follow my normal pattern.
