Barry R. Masters

This highly recommended, revised edition sets a high standard for its pedagogy. Every term is boldface and clearly defined. The equations are derived step by step, with more detailed mathematical and physical descriptions than seen in the previous editions, in boxes and footnotes that reduce ambiguities in understanding. Each topic begins with the phenomenon, followed by the mathematical analysis.

I recommend this new edition of a comprehensive, practical textbook authored by the pedagogue and researcher Kostuk, who spent decades working on applications of various holographic techniques to disparate optical systems. His research interests are reflected in the chapters. The text is augmented with clear figures and a balanced mathematical and physical foundation of the phenomenon. Dennis Gabor made the first holographic images in 1948; his 1971 Nobel Prize lecture is recommended reading.

Potma’s book is an extraordinary and comprehensive addition to the genre of nonlinear optical microscopy textbooks. It fills a lacuna found in other textbooks by providing a clear, logical development from the fundamentals to the advanced topics. There is a consistent framework: light propagation, signal generation in the specimen, light detection and image analysis.