Précis:This book is intended to convey an overall understanding of optical pathways. It sheds light on the background of light parti cles(electromagneti c waves, photons), from their origin, their pathto the opti cs, their conditi oning by the opti cs, up to a sensor system.One focus is on the transiti on to opti cally refracti ve material.It conveys an understanding what exactly is happening asrefracti on, diff racti on, polarizati on, refl ecti on, and absorpti on.Easily comprehensible opti cal path calculati ons and the esti mation of image quality follow. Moreover, opti cal coati ngs and theireff ects are discussed.Various opti cal systems, their functi oning, and how they can bemodifi ed and combined to achieve specifi c customer soluti onsare introduced.Catalogue opti cs occupies an important part of the book. Itshows how to select opti cal systems and how to build themwith prefabricated elements. This aspect is important, becausecatalogue opti cs is relati vely economical and in general quicklyavailable. Many applicati ons can be implemented this waywithout the need for expensive, custom-made opti cs.This book is writt en primarily for mechanical engineers, electricalengineers, and similar professional groups. It is intended toassist the engineer or technician who is involved in some waywith opti cs, but defi nitely also the interested craft sman whosimply wants to skip the formulas someti mes and deepen hisunderstanding of optics.