Book excerpt: CO2 Lasers: Effects and Applications examines and summarizes the important applications of the device in different areas of study like physics, chemistry, and engineering. In some parts of the book, the reader is assumed to be knowledgeable in university level mathematics or some specialized area in physics or chemistry. The book consists of 10 chapters where the first two establish the general concepts on lasers and CO2 lasers, respectively. Chapter 3 takes the reader further and presents a comprehensive review of optical components for use such as detectors, windows, and mirrors. Because the CO2 laser is mostly used as a heat source, the theory of laser-surface heating is relevant in the discussion. This theory is presented in Chapter 4. Chapters 5 and 6 meanwhile present a summary of observations on cutting, welding, and some related topics. The following chapters discuss the different applications of CO2 lasers in different areas and processes. Some of these applications include in the generation of thermal effect, laser deposition of thin films, spectroscopy, laser photochemistry, and meteorology and communication systems. The text is a good source of reference to both students and scientists in the areas of physics, chemistry, and engineering.