History Of Optics

Items » Usable » Usable Items » History Of Optics

Item

Image
Description	This book was written back before the Orbital Wars, covering historical pursuits from even earlier. It wanders through all topics of optics, but spends a while talking about lasers and their use in old optical drives. That probably helps explain the "Property of Metroplex University, Department of Computer Science" stamp. It's probably just as well it's covering ancient technology, honestly. With modern materials and miniaturization, it's very possible you couldn't apply any of the techniques from a new book anyway.
Type	Usable
Requires	1 Energy (not consumed on use)
Use	The book starts by talking a bit about the first lasers. The later chapters cover newer, but still historic, designs. Honestly, even those seem beyond your skills to build. For the oldest ones, it sounds like you'll need reflectors, a power source, and some sort of reactive glass or crystal. The requirements for the reflectors are pretty demanding. One needs to be almost perfectly reflective, with the other absorbing light until it spills over. Without a black silver ingot and shining ingot in inventory: Silver doesn't seem like it's going to cut it for the reflectors. You need something a lot more specialized. Or, With a black silver ingot but no shining ingot in inventory: This black silver ingot might actually work as the less reflective surface, but it definitely won't work as the more reflective. Or, Without a black silver ingot but with shining ingot in inventory: This shining ingot should work fine for the more reflective surface, but you don't think the light would ever escape with it on both. Or, with a black silver ingot and shining ingot, but no powdered glass: These strange ingots should work, you just need to find a source of glass pure enough to back the black silver one. Or, with a black silver ingot, shining ingot and powdered glass in inventory: These strange ingots, pounded thin and backed with a bit of glass might work. With no capacitor array or microcapacitor: You might be able to just rig a plug, but it there has to be a better way to power it. Without a capacitor array, but with microcapacitors: Microcapacitors might do the trick, you'd just need a lot of them. Or, with a capacitor array: With a modern capacitor array, power shouldn't be a problem for short pulses. You might need to plug them in if you want them to last more then a second, though. Without a hound crystal: You sort through your possessions looking for inspiration on the light source, but don't find anything that quite fits. Or, with a hound crystal but no artificial hound crystal: The hound crystal you have looks to be about the right dimensions for a light source but, with those cracks through it, it just isn't going to work out. Or, with an artificial hound crystal in inventory: The artifical crystal you've been carrying around looks like it should work as a light source, given enough juice. If you meet the other requirements: Oh! A polysteel case would probably be good too. Need to keep the insides inside, after all. Without any of the main ingredients: This is just a mess, but you'll need to find reflectors, power, and a crystal or lens somewhere. With one of the main ingredients: You should be good if you can sort out the rest of the systems. Or, with all ingredients but an artificial hound crystal: You should be good if you can sort out that light source. Or, with all ingredients but the black silver ingot, shining ingot and powdered glass: You should be good if you can come up with some reflectors. Or, with all the ingredients but a microcapacitor: You should be good if you can sort out something for a power source. With all necessary ingredients: You should be able to whip one up. It'd be experimental, but the theory's sound.
Effects	With all necessary ingredients: You've learned a new device recipe: Homemade Laser - Charge an Artificial Hound Crystal with a Capacitor Array, then reflect it between a Shining Ingot and a Black Silver Ingot backed with some Powdered Glass. Then encase the works in Polysteel. (5 Energy)