Table of contents : Topics covered include: * Historical foundations of polarized light * Classical radiation field theory and Maxwell's equations * Statistical theory of partial polarization, including a discussion of the thermodynamics of radiation fields * Propagation of polarized light through linear optical systems * Polarization transfer matrix methods for describing changes in polarization states that occur during reflection and refraction * Propagation of partially polarized waves in disordered systems and anisotropic media * Polarizers, compensators, and other optical components * Measurements of the Jones and Mueller polarization matrices