HACKER Q&A
📣 deidei

How can I learn about Spectroscopy?


I'm a full stack / machine learning developer. I was reading a few research papers about the use of ML models to diagnose diseases using spectral data. This has made me interested in learning more about how spectroscopy works.

My background is mostly CS and I'm not too familiar with chemistry, how can I start learning Spectroscopy? Please let me know if you know of any courses, textbooks or anything else that can help me learn.

  👤 jschveibinz Accepted Answer ✓
The signal processing of spectroscopic data is a well-researched topic area. You will find thousands of papers written on the topic in a Google Scholar search.

Signal processing, which is a domain within the electrical engineering discipline, is a good place to start your reading and learning.

ML is a poor fit in my opinion for spectroscopic analysis because the underlying physics is absolute: every element or molecule has one and only one signature within a given band, and it is typically at a very high SNR.

Now, it is possible that your sensor(s) can have variability so that is the only case where I see a ML vs. model-based approach (e.g. matched filter) being applicable.

Good luck on your journey.