Optical properties of thin solid films

Historical Significance: Originally published 1955. This book was orginally Heavens' PhD thesis at Reading University. Oliver Heavens (1923-2006) was a pioneer in the field of laser technology. He was one of the first in the United Kingdom to construct an operating laser. He had worked initially on thin films and was therefore well positioned to join the very early campaign to make a working laser, which depended on high quality thin film coatings for laser resonator mirrors. Work on lasers and thin films became the basis of his research at a time when it was thought that lasers might be useful but we did not know how. Heavens authored a number of influential textbooks and popular books on optics and enjoyed an international reputation for his pioneering work on the potential use of lasers in everyday life. He moved to the new University of York in 1964 as one of their founding fathers, where he was able to put together an influential new research school in optics, which flourishes to this day. He was the head of the physics department, where his teaching methods and leadership were greatly admired. Heavens served for many years on the Editorial Board of Optica Acta (now the Journal of Modern Optics). His final book, Insights into Optics, written with R.W. Ditchburn, his Ph.D. supervisor many years before, is an admired collection of short articles on the subject. See Obit http://www.osa.org/News/pressroom/release/09.2006/heaven.aspx