Near the horizon : an invitation to geometric optics / Henk Broer, University of Groningen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Broer, H. W. (Hendrik Wolter), 1950- author.

Series:

Carus mathematical monographs ; no. 33.

The Carus mathematical monographs ; number thirty-three

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Meteorological optics.

Geometrical optics.

Physical Description:

xiv, 163 pages : illustrations, facsimiles, portraits ; 22 cm.

Other Title:

Invitation to geometric optics

Place of Publication:

Washington, DC : The Mathematical Association of America, [2016]

Summary:

When you look at the setting sun, sometimes you see surprising things. Occasionally it may seem as if the sun is already setting while it is still above the horizon. There may be a blank strip in the middle of the solar disk, or a flash of green light. These phenomena can be explained by studying the geometry of light rays as they move through the atmosphere. Near the Horizon takes them as the starting point and goes on to connect geometric optics with the calculus of variations and with differential geometry. -- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction and overview

I. Geometry of light rays in the atmosphere. Geometric optics

Atmospheric optics

Light and the cycloid

II. Light rays as geodesics. The principles of Fermat and Hamilton

The brachistochrone revisited

Light rays as geodesics on a surface of revolution

Scholium generale.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 155-159) and index.

ISBN:

9780883851425

0883851423

OCLC:

934248779