Physics in the Arts

Physics in the Arts, Third Edition gives science enthusiasts and liberal arts students an engaging, accessible exploration of physical phenomena, particularly with regard to sound and light. This book offers an alternative route to science literacy for those interested in the arts, music and photography. Suitable for a typical course on sound and light for non-science majors, Gilbert and Haeberli’s trusted text covers the nature of sound and sound perception as well as important concepts and topics such as light and light waves, reflection and refraction, lenses, the eye and the ear, photography, color and color vision, and additive and subtractive color mixing.

Additional sections cover color generating mechanisms, periodic oscillations, simple harmonic motion, damped oscillations and resonance, vibration of strings, Fourier analysis, musical scales and musical instruments.

• Offers an alternative route to science literacy for those interested in the visual arts, music and photography
• Includes a new and unique quantitative encoding approach to color vision, additive and subtractive color mixing, a section on a simplified approach to quantitative digital photography, how the ear-brain system works as a Fourier analyzer, and updated and expanded exercises and solutions
• Provides updated online instructor resources, including labs, chapter image banks, practice problems and solutions

Undergraduate students

1. Light and Light Waves
2. Reflection and Refraction
3. Lenses
4. The Human Eye
5. Photography
6. Color and Color Vision
7. Additive Color Mixing
8. Subtractive Color Mixing
9. Color Generating Mechanisms
10. Sound Waves
11. Simple Harmonic Motion
12. Damping and Resonance
13. Vibration of Strings
14. Waves in Pipes
15. Superposition, beats, and Harmony
16. Musical Scales
17. Fourier Analysis
18. Musical Instruments
19. Sound Perception: Timbre, Loudness, and Pitch
20. The Ear
21. Solutions to Problems