Scientists and engineers around the world are striving to develop new sources of energy. One source, ocean thermal energy conversion, has virtually unlimited potential. It is based on techniques that exploit heat produced by solar energy that may, in turn, be used to produce fuel and electricity. This book reviews the status and background of this promising technology. William H. Avery is the leading expert in this field, and his co-author Chih Wu is an authority on heat engine performance. Together they describe the workings of an OTEC power plant and how such a system might be implemented...

A typical optical system is composed of three basic components: a source, a detector, and a medium in which the optical energy propagates. Many textbooks cover sources and detectors, but very few cover propagation in a comprehensive way, incorporating the latest progress in theory and experiment concerning the propagating medium. This book fulfills that need. It is the first comprehensive and self-contained book on this topic. It is useful reference book for researchers, and a textbook for courses like Laser Light Propagation, Solid State Optics, and Optical Propagation in the...

Fundamentals of Space Systems was developed to satisfy two objectives: the first is to provide a text suitable for use in an advanced undergraduate or beginning graduate course in both space systems engineering and space system design. The second is to be a primer and reference book for space professionals wishing to broaden their capabilities to develop, manage the development, or operate space systems. The authors of the individual chapters are practicing engineers that have had extensive experience in developing sophisticated experimental and operational spacecraft systems in...