Blip, Ping, and Buzz: Making Sense of Radar and Sonar

by Mark Denny

Have you ever wondered how stealth planes achieve "invisibility," how sunken ships are found, or how fishermen track schools of fish in vast expanses of ocean? Radar and sonar echolocation―a simple matter of sending, receiving, and processing signals. Weaving history with simple science, Mark Denny deftly reveals the world of radar and sonar to the curious reader, technology buff, and expert alike. He begins with an early history of the Chain Home radar system used during World War II and then provides accessible and engaging explanations of the physics that make signal processing possible. Basic diagrams and formulas show how electromagnetic and sound waves are transmitted, received, and converted into images, allowing you to literally see in the dark. A section on bioacoustic echolocation, with a focus on the superior sonar systems of bats and whales and a discussion of the advanced technology of next-generation airborne signal processors, opens the imagination to fascinating possibilities for the future.

Genres: Nonfiction

288 pages, Hardcover

First published September 12, 2007

About the author

Started writing in 2005, after 20 years working for a living...In fact, writing is work, of course, but I mean that I like it a lot more than the 9-to-5 grind of my office job (research engineer for a multinational aerospace corporation).

Ingenium was my first book, and I guess it shows, but I still have a great fondness for it. I was approached out of the blue by the editor of Johns Hopkins University Press who had seen a bunch of my published papers on historically important machines--he thought they could form the basis of an interesting popular science book. So I wrote it; the reviews were kind. I've recently completed my tenth book.

Reviews

[Rachel P-M · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this for work, so I got paid to do it, but it still took forever. It's incredibly sexist.

[Mae · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easily understandable and interesting.

[Ariel Burbaickij · Rating 3 out of 5]

surprisingly uneven book with some bungled explanations and shying too much away from mathematics on occasions. I am surprised Paul Nahin endorsed it.