The importance of optics training for engineers

An outline is presented of a three quarter graduate sequence of courses in optical systems theory for electrical engineers at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). The ten major topics covered in the course are; the physical aspects of light; sources of light; lenses, mirrors, and geometrical optics; lasers; interference and diffraction phenomena; spatial frequency in optics; optical detectors; holography; optical data processing; and electrooptic and acoustooptic devices.<>