Iridescences

Lepidoptera and Coleoptera - butterflies and beetles - are the most beautifully colored insects we can find. This book explores the origin of these brilliant colors from a physics perspective, beginning with the simplest question: Why Colors? The author masterfully explains at an introductory level the coloring of insects and illustrates his points with more than 240 brilliant figures. The book is a rich source for optical physicists, biologists, and teachers alike.

Serge Berthier teaches physics at the Denis Diderot-Paris 7 University and researches biologic structures, colors and biomimetism at the Institut des NanoSciences de Paris ( Pierre and Marie Curie-Paris 6 University and CNRS). He teaches solid state optics in the post-graduate degree 'Optics and material' and the post-graduate research degree 'Optics and Photonic' for the Denis Diderot University. He also teaches electromagnetism and laser physics to undergraduates at the Paris-Jussieu Institut of Technology.