Optics of the Human Eye

by David Atchison

Overview

This book describes the optical structure and optical properties of the human eye. For ease of reference, the most commonly useful topics are at the beginning and topics with narrower appeal are placed towards the end. The book is divided into five sections, covering:

• Basic optical structure of the eye, including the refracting components, the pupil, axes, and simple models of the eye
• Image formation and refraction of the eye, including refractive errors, measurement, and correction
• Interactions between light and the eye, considering transmission, reflection, and scatter in the media and at the fundus
• Aberrations and retinal image quality
• Depth-of-field and age-related changes in the optics of the eye

There have been many developments in the field of visual optics since the first edition was published in 2000. There have been advances in instrumentation for imagery, biometry, and aberrations of the eye. The refraction anomaly of myopia has increased in prevalence throughout the world, and is getting increasing attention because of its association with ocular pathology in the middle and later years of life. Ocular aberrations are now considered in terms of Zernike polynomials rather than Taylor polynomials. Aberrations can be manipulated to better understand their effects on visual performance to improve imagery of the retina for the betterment of diagnosis of various ocular conditions, and to treat the progression of myopia in children. To deal with these developments, the section on aberrations and retinal image quality has undergone considerable revision.

This book will be an invaluable purchase for all those with an interest in vision, such as optometrists, ophthalmologists, vision scientists, optical physics, and student of visual optics. An understanding of the optics of the human eye is particular important to designers of ophthalmic diagnostic equipment and visual optical systems such as telescopes.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780367652531
Publisher:	CRC Press
Publication date:	08/29/2025
Series:	Multidisciplinary and Applied Optics
Edition description:	2nd ed.
Pages:	498
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

David Atchison DSc is a professor in the School of Optometry & Vision Sciences at Queensland University of Optometry in Brisbane, Australia, where he researches and teaches Ophthalmic Optics and Visual Optics. He is a Fellow of the Optical Society and of the American Academy Optometry, and is a board member of the journals Clinical & Experimental Optometry and Ophthalmic & Physiological Optics. Awards include the Garland W. Clay award of the American Academy of Optometry (together with George Smith), the HB Collin Research medal of Optometry Australia, and the Glenn A. Fry award of the American Academy of Optometry.

Table of Contents

1. The Human Eye: An Overview. 2. Refracting Components: Cornea and Lens. 3. The Pupil. 4. Axes of The Eyes. Chapter 5. Paraxial Schematic Eyes. 6. Image Formation: The Focused Paraxial Image. 7. Refractive Anomalies. 8 Measuring Refractive Errors. Chapter 9. Image Formation: The Defocused Paraxial Image. 10. Some Optical Effects of Ophthalmic Lenses. 11. Light and The Eye: Introduction. 12 Passage of Light into The Eye 13. Light Level at The Retina. 14. Light Interaction with The Fundus. 15. Monochromatic Aberrations. 16. Monochromatic aberrations of optical model eyes . 17. Chromatic Aberration. 18. Retinal Image Quality.19. Depth-Of-Field. 20. The Aging Eye. Appendix 1. Paraxial optics. Appendix 2. Seidel aberration theory. Appendix 3. Schematic eyes. Appendix 4. Refraction powers across the pupil. Appendix 5. Calculation of PSF and OTF from aberrations of an optical system.

Editorial Reviews

Describes the optical structure and optical properties of the human eye. Each chapter is dedicated to a single theme, with material on commonly useful topics at the beginning and topics with narrower appeal, such as ocular aberrations, placed toward the end. Sections cover basic optical structure of the eye, image formation and refraction, interactions between light and the eye, aberrations and retinal image quality, and depth of field topics and age-related changes in the optics of the eye. Appendices cover mathematics relating to paraxial optics, aberrations theory, and image quality criteria and construction data. The editors teach optometry at Queensland University of Technology, and at the University of Melbourne, Australia. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

"...here is an excellent reference text for visual scientists, optical manufacturers and designers of devices for visual observation" Professor Robert Fletcher, Optical Practitioner, September 2000

From the Publisher