PREFACE 



The literature on photography abounds with books devoted to the elementarj' 

 or purely artistic phases of the subject. Few books are devoted to the serious aspects 

 of the technique of the photographic process or to the scientific basis underlying 

 photography and its applications, and most of these treat only of some restricted 

 branch of photography. 



This "Handbook of Photography" was born of the desire of the editors to possess 

 for their own use a comprehensive, authoritative reference work on photograph}- 

 and its technical and scientific applications — a reference text having the directness, 

 rigor, and authority which might be found, for example, in the various engineering 

 handbooks. 



A number of workers in the photographic field, selected for their specialized 

 knowledge, have cooperated in the preparation of material for this handbook. The 

 work of the editors has been largely that of planning, organizing, and editing the 

 individual manuscripts for each chapter, as well as of organizing the book as a whole. 



The editors wish to express their appreciation to Richard S. Morse of the Eastman 

 Kodak Co. and to Dr. Charles J. Smalley for the critical reviewing of several manu- 

 scripts included in this volume. Several of the illustrations are reproduced through 

 the courtesy of the Bausch and Lomb Optical Co., the Eastman Kodak Co., and 

 Julius Springer. 



K. H. 

 B. D. 



