The author of this book poses, in the Preface, the question “Why another book on Fourier theory?” It is difficult to justify another book on the subject matter, as there are many books which covers the material. This book describes the author’s experience with computing Fourier transforms and is, therefore, partially justified.

However, the intent of bridging the gap between theory and practice is not fully realized. The book covers most of the major topics in Fourier series and Fourier transforms. A few analytical examples, with mathematical details, would be helpful. The author does not provide sufficient details on the use of data window functions and their application to time data.

The book is divided into three parts: the theory of Fourier series and transforms, digital processing of time data by Fourier transforms, and a section on the FFT algorithm and a basic FFT program. The latter section should have been placed in an appendix.

The first part consists of three chapters: Time and Frequency Concepts, Fourier Series, and Fourier Transforms. This section of the book is well written, but, as stated earlier, a few examples might be helpful. The second part of the book is a good presentation of the material on the DFT and FFT algorithms. This part of the book is important for an understanding of discrete processing of time functions. A reasonable number of waveforms and the associated spectra are presented. This material helps to explain the frequency spectra-time function relationships. Data windows for preventing spectra leakage are discussed in this part of the book. The author has done an adequate job of discussing windows, but a few examples of computed spectra with and without a window would help the reader.

The book is rather good, but this reviewer questions the value of the book in a personal technical library. The book is not a textbook, although it may be suitable for a short course.