Book Review: Probabilistic Methods of Signal and System Analysis, 2nd Ed.

Image Restoration and Reconstruction: R. H. T. BATES and M. 1. McDONNELL (Oxford University Press, 1986,288 pp., £35) This book is primarily concerned with describing theoretical material on the subjects of image restoration and reconstruction. The authors have thus limited the scope of the book to what can be broadly classified as the 'signal processing' aspects of image processing. Topics treated at length are: Fourier transform theory, deconvolution, phase recovery, reconstruction from projections and interferometry. Hence the reader should be aware that methods based on pattern recognition (statistical or syntactical) and image coding, are not covered. The authors have chosen a narrative style that makes the book easier to read. However, especially at the beginning of each chapter, the continuous references to the bibliography make the reading slightly more difficult. This is organized in a rather unusual manner, although explained at the beginning of the book. Each main section ends with an example, illustrated by photographs of experimental results, of the theory that has been described. The book also contains two chapters that cover the practical aspects of the digital computer implementation of the methods described in previous chapters. However, these only present an informal discussion of some of the factors that have to be considered, based on the research experience of the authors. For instance, architectural aspects (fundamental in the presence of timing constraints), are not fully covered. Therefore, this book is most useful as a reference book on mathematical foundations, which are very well covered, for graduates or researchers in this area, but is neither an introductory book nor a survey of image processing techniques. S. VELASTIN, Visitor. Department of Electrical Engineering and Electronics, UMIST