Readings from Scientific American: (1) Light and Its Uses: Making and Using Lasers, Holograms, Interferometers, and Instruments of Dispersion, and: (2) Light from the Sky (review)

Books 321 awards offered him, notably the presidency of the Royal Society and knighthood. At Christmas he took great pleasure in giving scientific lectures to children. Overall, this book is a good introduction to physics. However, I have these suggestions. First, I think that the mechanical advantage obtainable using simple lever and pulley systems should be covered. Second, lenses are presented well, but optical telescopes and microscopes are barely mentioned. Considering how greatly they have expanded our world view, they should be included. Certainly they merit attention as much as, for example, color, the fluorescent light, cathode ray tube, cloud chamber and laser which the text covers well. Third, in The Properties of Light section is a photo of a serious accident with two mangled cars in the foreground and an ambulance in the background. The photo carries the caption ‘Why is the name spelled backwards on the ambulance?’ The cars and accident are irrelevant and unnecessarily focus on destruction. A photo ofjust the front of the ambulance would be more fitting and to the point. Fourth, the book contains some quite interesting photos (for example, of the grooves in a phonograph record magnified lo00 times and of a mountain brook scene taken with ordinary film and then with infrared film). More such sensitive photos would increase the book’s aesthetic appeal. Color Measurement:Theme and Variations. D. L. MacAdam. Springer, New York, 1981.229 pp., illus. $39.10.ISBN: 3-540-10773-8. Reviewed by George A. Agoston* Several years ago, when I was doing library research in the preparation for my book, Color Theory and Its Applications in Art andDesign (New York: Springer, 1979) [reviewed in Leonardo 13, 333, 19801, my task would have been significantly lighter if I had had MacAdam’s book to refer to. Color science is complex, and its literature, rapidly expanding since the 1920’s. is dispersed in many technical journals and books. MacAdam, an authority and major contributor in the domain of colorimetry since the 1930s, presents in his book a selection of topics based on his experience and interests, including new topics that ‘may become significant’(p. ix). He states, ‘Thisvolume is concerned chiefly with a method for specifying the colors of objects or materials’ (p. 2). The first three chapters and parts of Chapters 4 and 5 consist of revisions and abridgments (‘theme and variations’) of the Handbook of Colorimetry (Cambridge, Mass.: Technology Press, 1936), to which MacAdam was a contributor. The chapter titles give a good idea of the contents of MacAdam’s book: The Physical Basis of Color Specification; Sources of Light; Spectrophotometry; Color Mixture; Determination of Tristimulus Values;Color of Light; Colors of Objects; Color Differences; Color-Order Systems; Color-Matching Functions; Chromatic Adaptation. MacAdam’s book is addressed to those concerned with color measurement. Yet those able to employ algebra and, preferably, having a knowledge of the physicsof lightat the first year of collegelevelshould be able to follow the discussions. Throughout the book the writing is clear and precise. In the Appendix, ample notes and selected references are given. Artists wishing to dig further into the subject of psychophysical aspects of color will find this book particularly informative. Alsoartists who have not yet seenexamplesof the OpticalSocietyof America(OSA) uniform color scalesshould consult the book to see three excellentcolor plates showing series(scales)of color samples of equal color difference. A fourth color plate shows a photograph of a 3-dimensional model representing all members of the uniform color series(available as color cards from the OSA). The 424 color cards, precisely prepared with glossy acrylic paints containing pigments of high permanency, can be used to produce 422 different series of three or more colors that are perceptually equally different (p. 169). Readings from Scientific American: (I) Light and Its Uses: Making and Using Lasers, Holograms, Interferometers, and Instruments of Dispersion. Introduced by Jearl Walker. W. H. Freeman,Oxford, 1980. 147pp.. illus. Paper €4.90. ISBN:0-7167-1 185-0, (2)Light from thesky. Introduced by Jearl Walker. W. H. Freeman, Oxford, 1980.78pp., illus. Paper €3.50. ISBN: 0-7167-1222-9. Reviewed by P.K. Hoenich** ~~ ~ *4 Rue Rambuteau, 75003 Paris, France. **4 Achad...