No abstract
This book completes an account of Fibre Optic Sensor Technology commenced by the same Editors in 1988. The first two volumes, produced in 1988 - 89, formed a pair, and Volumes III and IV follow the same pattern: one (volume III) covering theory and basics, and the present volume (volume IV) covering applications. As in the previous pair, the numbering of chapters and pages follows consecutively through the two volumes, so that they are clearly intended to be read together. Chapters cover chemical sensing, (using direct spectroscopy, using indicator dyes, and dynamic light scattering); and in-vivo medical sensing. These are followed by chapters on fibre optic gyros, mechanical condition monitoring, and sensors in industrial systems. Distributed and multiplexed sensors are covered, including a chapter on smart structures, and the final chapter summarises the commercial presence of fibre optic sensors. The book thus constitutes a fairly comprehensive account of the current state of the art. That the technology has made considerable strides in the intervening years since the publication of volumes I and II is clear from a glance at this volume no less than volume III. The editors have cast the net more widely than in volume III in the selection of authors of individual chapters, and the results are correspondingly uneven. In a book such as this, covering a wide range of applications, it is always difficult to aim at the right technical level. The majority of authors have succeeded in providing a concise account of their topic, giving sufficient information for a reader who has a background in optics and sensing to gain an overview, and making references to sources for deeper study. For example I felt that the chapter on fibre-optic gyros does this admirably. However, it seemed to me that some authors have fallen into the trap of providing a level of detail which would be more of interest to the specialist in their subject, while others, on the other hand, have merely described an assortment of devices or applications without conveying an overall view of their topic. I feel that Optical Fiber Sensors: Applications, Analysis, and Future Trends falls short of fulfilling the promise of the preceding volume, which in my view portrayed the current situation admirably. I have puzzled for some time over why this is, and my conclusion is the lack of a unifying theme in the whole volume, and also within many of the chapters: `applications' are there, but the `analysis' and the `future trends' are less easy to find. Maybe the editors could have insisted on these aspects being spelled out in the individual chapters, but what I feel is really needed is an overall discussion of the technology of optical sensors, and its position in the wider spectrum of sensor technology as a whole. With their own background, having been involved in the optical sensing since its earliest days, perhaps there are few who could have done this better than the editors themselves. Optical Fiber Sensors: Applications, Analysis, and Future Trends ...
The Editors of this book produced a pair of volumes, Optical Fiber Sensors volumes I and II, in 1988 and 1989 respectively. At that time, optical fibre sensing research and development in the UK and elsewhere was consolidating the position achieved during the initial surge of effort which had taken place during the early 1980s. In the intervening years between that time and the appearance of volume III: Components and Subsystems, (and the anticipated appearance later this year of volume IV: Applications, Analysis and Future Trends), the technology has matured considerably, and has focussed on a number of specific areas. The editors are repeating the format of the previous two volumes. Thus volume I was basically a physics text, setting out the principles of the various optical fibre sensing techniques in use or under development at the time. Volume II, on the other hand, gave an overview of the specific sensing systems and applications. In keeping with the current status of the subject, Volume III is perhaps less of a physics text but is still a detailed examination of the sensing technologies that have come to the forefront over the past decade. These include fibre Bragg gratings, evanescent wave techniques, fibre lasers and amplifiers, ODTR techniques in distributed sensing, spectrometric techniques for wavelength decoding and wavelength multiplexing, etc. Like its predecessor, volume I, it deals (as indeed its title implies) in principles, with the components and techniques that form present-day sensing systems and applications, but not with the systems themselves. For this we must await the appearance of volume IV. As examples of how the field has advanced in the intervening years, fibre lasers and amplifiers, the subject of a substantial chapter in volume III, merited only a brief mention in volume I. Fibre Bragg gratings, which have transformed the landscape of optical fibre sensing in the past decade, were not mentioned at all in either volume I or II. Again, volume III considers these in detail. Moreover, a far greater proportion of the techniques described are to be found in commercial systems than was the case in 1988, when many of the systems described were still under development. The editors have drawn heavily on their colleagues at Strathclyde and Southampton Universities as authors of the individual chapters. In spite of the opportunities this must provide for close editorial control, there is some duplication between chapters. Material on fibre Bragg gratings and on fibre lasers and amplifiers appears in several chapters apart from those dedicated specifically to these topics, but they are so intimately linked that perhaps this is unavoidable. I noticed that the book is firmly couched in American English, presumably to satisfy an international readership (which indeed it deserves). However, while one has come to accept `fiber' and `meter' through repeated exposure, the use of `skeptic' in the first line of the preface may perhaps jar some sensibilities. But these are trivial poin...
Your special issue on "energy challenges for the 21st century" ( July pp13-15 and pp25-45) was informative and interesting, but failed to mention the overall energy or environmental budget. None of the articles compared the energy used in the manufacture of a conventional car or light bulb with that of their "energy-saving" replacements. This is, of course, a complex matter, especially if one considers the energy used in maintenance. A new type of traffic light, for example, might require less energy to run, but might also be more reliable, last longer and require fewer visits from repair crews.The articles also did not address the important question of whether new energy devices will generate hazardous waste that will be hard to dispose of or to recycle. To make a proper assessment of the value of these new devices, one needs to consider the energy budget throughout their lives.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.