The measurement and characterisation of surface topography is crucial to modern manufacturing industry. The control of areal surface structure allows a manufacturer to radically alter the functionality of a part. Examples include structuring to effect fluidics, optics, tribology, aerodynamics and biology. To control such manu facturing methods requires measurement strategies. There is now a large range of new optical techniques on the market, or being developed in academia, that can measure areal surface topography. Each method has its strong points and limitations. The book starts with...