This book is not a textbook, not a monograph or even a popular science publication, but a brief excursion into the world of photonics, which should give people far from this industry a general idea of ​ ​ what modern photonics is and what it is for. There are no formulas in the text, not all modern laser, optical and optoelectronic technologies are mentioned, the presentation is not strict, but illustrated, based on "examples from life."