Now that holography has matured (wIth Dennis Gabor having received the Nobel Prize In 1971) and that coherent optics has proved to be even more powerful than originally imagined, in open- ing the new field of "optical computing," it is particularlyappropri- ate to make available to English-speaking readers the translation of a uniquely outstanding text which presents the general and per- manent foundations of the field. L. M. Soroko's book has proved its usefulness, since It ap- peared in Russian In 1971, following the basic pattern set in the world's first monograph In the field, "An...