ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews basic properties of waves, including their mathematical description and the most important consequences of their interactions with matter. The chapter begins with a review of key qualitative and quantitative attributes of traveling sound and electromagnetic waves, including wavelength, frequency, speed, phase, wavefronts, and rays. This is followed by a discussion of relevant phenomena that arise when waves interact with matter, including absorption, emission, scattering, transmission, reflection, and refraction. The chapter concludes with a discussion of superposition of waves and polarization of electromagnetic waves. These topics play a prominent role in later chapters devoted to resolution and contrast in light microscopy.
