Proposes a method of collecting solar energy by using available plastics for Fresnel lenses to focus heat onto a converter where thermal dissociation of water would produce hydrogen. The hydrogen would be used as an efficient non-polluting fuel. Cost estimates are included. (AL)

This short biography of Fresnel traces his early education, his work as an engineer and his theories and discoveries in optics. The importance of Fresnel's ideas on diffraction, interference and double refraction are discussed. Bibliography. (LC)

Ten stages of developing reading machines for blind people are analyzed: handling of text material; optics; electro-optics; pattern recognition; character recognition; storage; speech synthesizers; browsing and place finding; computer indexing; and other sources of input. Cost considerations of the final product are emphasized. (CL)

Reviews the uses of television in education and considers the future in relationship to the microelectronics revolution. New microelectronic technology, cheap information storage, and cheap transmission of information are discussed as major components of a revolution in educational television use. (Author/BK)

A known but often overlooked property of optical monochromators is discussed in view of its current applications. It is shown that grating and prism monochromators hold on to light for time durations proportional to resolving power and that the dispersing ability of monochromators extends to pulses of arbitrarily short duration. (SK)

Points out that neither Minkowski's nor Abraham's proposal gives correctly the momentum density of light in a refracting medium. Derives the correct result as given by Peierls. (MLH)