Iridescences by Berthier, Serge;

Long description:

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Butterflies and coleoptera are the most beautifully colored insects we can find. This book wants to understand the origin of these brilliant colors from a physics perspective. The different physical phenomena are explained and numerous color illustrations shown. The book is a rich source for optical physicists, biologists, and teachers alike.

Butterflies and coleopterans are the most beautifully colored insects we can find. This book wants to understand the origin of these brilliant colors from a physics perspective. The different physical phenomena are explained and numerous color illustrations shown. The book is a rich source for optical physicists, biologists, and teachers alike. Serge Berthier teaches physics at the Denis Diderot-Paris 7 University and researches biologic structures, colors and biomimetism at the Institut des NanoSciences de Paris (Pierre and Marie Curie-Paris 6 University and CNRS). He teaches solid state optics in the post-graduate degree ""Optics and material"" and the post-graduate research degree ""Optics and Photonic"" for the Denis Diderot University. He also teaches electromagnetism and laser physics to undergraduates at the Paris-Jussieu Institut of Technology.

Table of Contents:

Iridescence.- Why Colors.- Lepidoptera Description and Scales of Observation.- Coleoptera Description and Observation Scales.- Changing Colors: Structures or Pigments?.- Physical Colors, Chemical Colors Basics of Solid State Optics.- 1-Dimensional Structures: Interferences.- 2-Dimensional Structures: Interferences and Diffraction.- 3-Dimensional Structures: Crystalline Diffraction.- Amorphous Structures: Scattering.- Pigments and Pigmentary Colors.- Thermoregulation and Spectral Selectivity.- Vision and Colorimetry.