From the reviews: "This college book describes the theory, operating characteristics, and design features of solid-state lasers. The book is written for students who want to familiarize themselves with solid-state lasers beyond the level of a general textbook. . In this college text the material has been streamlined . . The reader will find helpful summaries at the end of each chapter, many exercises with solutions, as well as a lot of helpful references for each chapter." (Peter Fröhlich, Optik, Zeitschrift für Licht- und Elektronenoptik, Vol. 115 (10), 2004) "This graduate level textbook starts off by giving an historical overview of solid-state lasers and various milestones in this billion dollar field. Then it introduces the basic concepts on lasers and covers the properties of various solid-state laser materials widely used in research laboratories and industry. . Overall, this is a very well written textbook suitable for third and fourth year students interested in solid state lasers as well as graduate students and professionals working in the laser field." (Chennupati Jagadish, The Physicist, Vol. 41 (3), 2004)