Fourier Transforms

[Barani]

>Article: 1782 of bionet.xtallography
>From: bmbtdf at leeds.ac.uk (T.D. Flint)
>Subject: Fourier Transforms
>Date: Thu, 29 Jun 1995 13:32:32 +0100 (BST)
>
>Dear Whoever,
>I just can not understand exactly what is going on in a Fourier transform.  I 
>know that amplitude and phase values are calculated etc and that you end up 
>with the power spec. but i have asked SO MANY people what is going on and 
>either they don't understand it themselves, or they do and can not explain it 
>in such a way for me to understand.  Can any body explain it or give me  a 
>reference that is understandable.  I have read many but never quite seem to 
>get there.
>Thanks
>   B
>   Y
>   E
>Toby


  Fourier Transform simply gives you the frequencies of various
  harmonic waves that combine together and form the particular 
  signal. In Fourier Series this is the same as representing a 
  complicated function in terms of a sum of many simple sinusoidal 
  functions (each with different wavelength). 

  The best way to understand Fourier Transform is through
  numerical methods that is well illustrated in a book
  by M.M.Woolfson "An Introduction to X-ray Crystallography".

  OR get hold of some book by R.N.Bracewell for signal processing 
  and Fourier transforms.  

  -Barani