Described are the elementary principles of Fourier transform spectroscopy and typical experimental results obtained with a modified Michelson interferometer. (RH)

Described is a device that can be set up on a bench with inexpensive apparatus. The device performs in non-coherent white light according to the laws of geometrical optics. (RH)

Articles describing construction of an inexpensive spectrograph, improving focusing of Polaroid cameras, use of space satellites for instruction, and construction of an optics demonstration platform. (RH)

Traces the development of stabilized lasers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology passive-stabilization experiments of the early 1960s up through the current epoch of highly stabilized helium-neon and carbon dioxide and continuous wave dye lasers. (Author/HM)

Discusses the use of laser spectroscopy in determining the presence of specific gaseous constituents. Three of currently used modes for laser detection of pollution are reviewed; (1) long-path measurements; (2) laser raman (differential absorption) measurements; and (3) optoacoustic detection. (HM)

Describes a currently used picosecond spectroscopy system capable of reliably recording picosecond events. Two areas of picosecond research are discussed: one concerns the interaction of electrons in fluids; the second, the primary events in vision. (Author/HM)

Surveys new laser techniques and a variety of spectroscopic experiments that can be used to detect, measure and study very small numbers of atoms on molecules. The range of applicability of these techniques is also included. (HM)

Describes a procedure for modifying an interferometer which compensates for distortions when making interferograms. (SL)

Describes a demonstration technique for showing multiple-slit interference patterns with the use of a Fabry-Perot etalon and a laser beam. A simple derivation of the analytical expression for such fringes is presented. (Author/CP)

Describes a simple method, the Edser-Butler methods, for calibrating the Fabry-Pevot fringes seen in the focal plane of a spectrograph. (GA)

Describes the current understanding of the structure and evolution of the white dwarf stars that was gained as a result of the increasingly sensitive and detailed astronomical observations coupled with calculations of the properties of matter under extreme conditions. (Author/GA)

Describes the use of atomic spectra that are excited in inductively coupled plasmas for the simultaneous or sequential determination of the elements at all concentration levels. (HM)