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Natural Coatings

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Optical Interference Coatings

Part of the book series: Springer Series in Optical Sciences ((SSOS,volume 88))

Abstract

Nature is profligate in the way it uses light and colour. As the principle component of inter and intra-species communication, light supports stimuli associated with courtship, crypsis, predation, feeding and a wide range of other biological functions. Light is believed to be the stimulus behind the Cambrian explosion; the sudden and enormous diversification of life that accompanied the start of the Cambrian period over 500 million years ago. Evidence from this era suggests that the co-development of predator and prey colouration, concurrently with their visual systems, led to an explosion in evolution of lifeforms (Parker 1998, 1999). Light is believed to drive significant selection pressures that have been responsible for the subsequent development of all life; creating the astonishing diversity of photonic systems that are present in the world today.

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  1. School of Physics, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK

    Peter Vukusic

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  1. Peter Vukusic
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  1. Fraunhofer-Institut, Angewandte Optik Feinmechanik, Winzerlaer Strasse 10, 07745, Jena, Germany

    Norbert Kaiser

  2. Institut für Ionenphysik, Universität Innbruck, Technikerstrasse 25, 6020, Innbruck, Austria

    Hans K. Pulker

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© 2003 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Vukusic, P. (2003). Natural Coatings. In: Kaiser, N., Pulker, H.K. (eds) Optical Interference Coatings. Springer Series in Optical Sciences, vol 88. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-36386-6_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-36386-6_1

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-05570-6

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