The Human Eye and the Colourful World
The human eye is a remarkable organ similar to a camera, using its lens system to focus light onto the retina, forming images of our surroundings. Key structural components include the cornea, lens, iris, and retina, with light entering through the cornea and focusing through the lens. The ability of the lens to adjust its curvature allows for focusing on objects at varying distances, known as accommodation.
A normal human eye has a near point of about 25 centimeters and can see objects clearly up to infinity. However, various refractive defects such as myopia, hypermetropia, and presbyopia can affect vision quality. Each of these defects can be corrected using specific types of lenses, with myopia requiring concave lenses and hypermetropia requiring convex lenses.
The section also discusses the natural optical phenomena, including the dispersion of white light through a prism, resulting in a spectrum of colors, and atmospheric phenomena like the twinkling of stars and the blue color of the sky, caused by scattering. By studying these concepts, we gain insights into both the complex design of the human eye and the physical principles governing light interactions.