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The optics of life : a biologist's guide to light in nature /

"Optics--a field of physics focusing on the study of light--is also central to many areas of biology, including vision, ecology, botany, animal behavior, neurobiology, and molecular biology. The Optics of Life introduces the fundamentals of optics to biologists and nonphysicists, giving them th...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Johnsen, Sönke
Format: Book
Language:English
Published: Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press, [2012]
Subjects:
Photobiology.
Physiological optics.
Polarization (Light)
SCIENCE > Life Sciences > Biology > General.
SCIENCE > Optics.
Table of Contents:
  • Units and geometry
  • Emission
  • Absorption
  • Scattering
  • Scattering with interference
  • Fluorescence
  • Polarization
  • Measuring light
  • What is light, really?
  • Appendix A. Converting spectral irradiance to lux
  • Appendix B. Calculating the absorbance spectrum of a visual pigment
  • Appendix C. Refractive indices of common subtances
  • Appendix D. Optical properties of very clear water
  • Appendix E. Optical properties of natural waters
  • Appendix F. Useful formulas
  • Appendix G. Equipment and software suppliers.