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Schlieren and shadowgraph techniques

Schlieren and shadowgraph techniques are basic and valuable tools in various scientific and engineering disciplines. They allow us to see the invisible: the optical inhomogeneities in transparent media like air, water, and glass that otherwise cause only ghostly distortions of our normal vision. These techniques are discussed briefly in many books and papers, but there is no up-to-date complete treatment of the subject before now. The book is intended as a practical guide for those who want to use these methods, as well as a resource for a broad range of disciplines where scientific visualization is important. The book was written by Professor Settles and was published by Springer in 2001.

SCHLIEREN AND SHADOWGRAPH TECHNIQUES: VISUALIZING PHENOMENA IN TRANSPARENT MEDIA, by Gary S. Settles, is now available (Springer-Verlag, Nov. 2001, 390 pages, Hardcover, ISBN 3-540-66155-7, countless black-and-white illustrations and 48 color plates, list price $109.00).


Corrections & Updates

This Web page is intended to provide the latest information, announcements, errata, etc. to supplement the book "Schlieren and Shadowgraph Techniques" (S&ST) by G.S. Settles, published in Sept. 2001 by Springer-Verlag, ISBN 3-540-66155-7.

UPDATES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

Do you like the book? Consider writing a review of it. This can be done online at the Springer.de or Amazon.com

ERRATA

1) An email message sent to some readers on Nov. 3, 2001 indicated a correction to Eqn. 10.3. Upon further consideration, no such correction should be made; the equation is correct as printed (thanks to Rita Cognion for her help on this issue). (Feb. 7, 2002)

2) The discussion of refractivity change with light wavelength at the top of page 27 and in Sec. 5.6.6 is incorrect and should be ignored. Of course, k actually decreases with increasing lambda (Feb. 7, 2002).

3) Dozens of typos have been found despite a careful proofreading of the final manuscript. These seem to have arisen in part from discrepancies in the pdf file that served as the master for printing. Very few of these amount to more than annoyances, but for these few I provide corrections below (Feb. 7, 2002)

  • The caption of Fig. 3.7 says "tangential," but means "saggittal."
  • Pg. 71 1st paragraph, end of last sentence should read "for small schlieren objects."
  • Pg. 108 last paragraph "Dalziel et al. [250-252]" should read "Dalziel and Sutherland [250, 251]"
  • The caption of Fig. 5.6 should read "Fig. 5.5 d and b, respectively."
  • Ref. 190 should now read: Settles, G. S., Kester, D. A., and Dodson-Dreibelbis, L. J., “The External Aerodynamics of Sniffing,” Chapter in Sensors and Sensing in Biology and Engineering, ed. F.G. Barth, J.A.C. Humphrey, and T.W. Secomb, Springer, Vienna & NY, 2002.
  • In Fig. 10.12a, the item labelled "slit" should actually read "pinhole."
  • Partial derivative symbols are missing in in-line mathematical expressions on pg. 286 (3rd paragraph) and bottom pg. 287.
  • The telephone number of Viewstar Inc. (pps. 356 and 358) is now (757) 596-0760.
  • Pg. 357, Sec. D.3: Quadtech no longer manufactures the Strobotac. Instead contact IET Labs Inc., 534 Main St., Westbury NY 11590, 1-800-475-1211, http://www.ietlabs.com