The book is devoted to the optical system of man and the peculiarities of his visual perception of the world around him. The history of the development of ideas about the visual process is presented, the structure of the human eye, the role of its elements in the formation of the primary image on the retina, the ways of transmitting visual information to various layers of the cerebral cortex are considered. It is shown how a normally functioning eye perceives the shape of an extended object, its movement, many color shades, depth of space, etc.