VOL. 80, NOS. 3–4 109 Applied Physics, Authored by Sanjay D Jain, Girish G. Sahasrabudhe and Sunil M Pande, University Press (India) Pvt. Ltd 2013, Pages : 352, Price Rs. 295.00. “Applied Physics” by Sanjay D Jain, Girish G. Sahasrabudhe and Sunil M Pande, published by University Press (India) Pvt. Ltd and distributed by Orient Blackswan Pvt. Ltd. is a comprehensive book on applied physics. The soft bound book of 352 pages comprises eleven chapters starting from what is light, its interference and polarization, quantum physics, semiconductors, crystal structure, charged particle in electromagnetic fields, lasers, fibre optics and ending with nanotechnology. The book is useful as a core text book for the first couple of semesters in engineering and technology. However, having bridged the basic and applied physics in several areas, it would also serve as an excellent source book for budding young physicists aimed at developing the basic concepts of physics as well as bringing students up to date on latest technologies. The topics smoothly flow from one to another, integrating large areas into one. The authors’ use of mathematics is simple, crisp and extremely useful to students. The chapters start with a list of learning objectives and are dotted with worked out examples and have a number or numerical problems at the end of each chapter. Boxes and charts provide information on special topics from optical rotation, photoelectric effect, wave packets, Fermi level and Fermi energy, intrinsic/extrinsic semiconductors, junction potential, Bravais lattices, unit cells and voids, Miller indices, Bragg’s law, motion in electromagnetic fields, spontaneous/induced emission, lasers, optical fibres, nanomaterial production, SPM/AFM, SEM, TEM, etc.. The book provides comparison between similar methods, e.g. between SEM and TEM. It gives a flavor of a host of topics, though it does not go into the details of most (e.g. the reader has to be content with the different acronyms of the various scanning probe microscopes, without a sentence to explain each one of them). The book begins with a chapter on light. Though it does not begin with Maxwell’s equations to get to the wave equation for electric and magnetic fields and the interrelation between the two, it shows that the wave equation by an analogy with other waves. It goes to describing standing waves, polarization and relation between velocity of light and permittivity and permeability without mathematical derivation but in a format which would be easy for the students to remember. It then goes on to describe interference in an algebraic way. It discusses various interference patterns in great details, though it briefly touches on coherence. Under polarization the author discusses longitudinal polarization and how polarization affects interference. It discusses polarization due to scattering and various forms of induced-birefringence. Under quantum physics it discusses Planck’s hypothesis, photoelectric and Compton effects. After discussing the uncertainty principle it moves on to the time dependent and time independent Schrödinger equations, followed by barrier-penetration and particle-in-a-box problem. Complex concepts are presented in a simple way, from energy bands in solids based on a two-well system, forbidden-band from Bragg scattering and the concept of Brillouin zones. Various types of problems are worked out to explain the principles further. Problems on barrier potential, carrier concentration, etc. help understand the semiconductor devices better. The authors move on to crystal structure, x-ray diffraction and elaborate specific problems using boxes. Charts on crystal structures are quite elaborate, and also discusses the symmetries of voids and ligancy. The chapter on motion of charges in electric and magnetic fields starts at an elementary level and moving into electron optics, focusing in cyclotrons and Hall effect. The elementary principles of lasers include a relation between Einstein’s coefficients, how the lasing medium forms a resonant cavity and discusses coherence and