In the first edition of his seminal introduction to wavelets, James S. Walker informed us that the potential applications for wavelets were virtually unlimited. Since that time thousands of published papers have proven him true, while also necessitating the creation of a new edition of his bestselling primer. Updated and fully revised to include the latest developments, this second edition of A Primer on Wavelets and Their Scientific Applications guides readers through the main ideas of wavelet analysis in order to develop a thorough appreciation of wavelet applications.

Ingeniously relying on elementary algebra and just a smidgen of calculus, Professor Walker demonstrates how the underlying ideas behind wavelet analysis can be applied to solve significant problems in audio and image processing, as well in biology and medicine.

Nearly twice as long as the original, this new edition provides

- 104 worked examples and 222 exercises, constituting a veritable book of review material

- Two sections on biorthogonal wavelets

- A mini-course on image compression, including a tutorial on arithmetic compression

- Extensive material on image denoising, featuring a rarely covered technique for removing isolated, randomly positioned clutter

- Concise yet complete coverage of the fundamentals of time-frequency analysis, showcasing its application to audio denoising, and musical theory and synthesis

- An introduction to the multiresolution principle, a new mathematical concept in musical theory

- Expanded suggestions for research projects

- An enhanced list of references

- FAWAV: software designed by the author, which allows readers to duplicate described applications and experiment with other ideas.

To keep the book current, Professor Walker has created a supplementary website. This online repository includes ready-to-download software, and sound and image files, as well as access to many of the most important papers in the field.

Walker (mathematics, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire) guides readers through the main ideas of wavelet analysis in order to develop a thorough appreciation of wavelet applications. Relying on elementary algebra and a small amount of calculus, he demonstrates how the underlying ideas behind wavelet analysis can be applied to solve significant problems in audio and image processing, biology, and medicine. Nearly twice as long as the first edition, this second edition of the book provides 104 worked examples and 222 exercises, two sections on bioorthogonal wavelets, a mini-course on image compression, expanded material on image denoising, an introduction to time frequency analysis, and expanded suggestions for research projects. A companion Web site, new for this edition, includes downloadable software, sound and image files, and links to important papers in the field. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

An easily accessible introduction to wavelet analysis, this book explains the subject using algebra and some basic calculus and stresses applications, such as speech compression, removing noise from audio and images, image compression, and image enhancement. The author offers downloadable software that permits recording, playing, and modifying sound files using wavelet techniques, plus a facility for displaying, printing, and modifying standard IEEE gray field images. New sections include Biorthogonal Wavelets, The JPEG200 Image Compression Standard, Spectrograms, Analyzing Speech and Music with Spectrograms, Wavelet-Based Denoising of Images, and Thresholding Spectrograms for Denoising.