New experiments in modern optics will be introduced, and the introductory teaching laboratory in waves and optics for non-science students as well as for physics majors will be modernized at the University of Chicago. New instrumentation would allow experiments in fiber optics, image processing and Fourier optics, in addition to those in holography, diffraction and interference, polarization, laser physics and photo- electric effect. Today, students encounter applications of the new optical technology in the outside world: fiber optic communication, laser compact discs, bar code readers, laser surgery and holograms. This contact and awareness of modern developments will be exploited by novel experiments in the undergraduate teaching laboratories. New physical science courses for the non-science student have been developed recently at the University of Chicago and there is an urgent need to create new experimental protocols in modern optics.
