Optical Instruments

The remaining sections apply every result derived so far -- the mirror and lens equations, magnification, total internal reflection, and diffraction-limited resolution -- to real optical instruments used in daily life and in astronomy: the simple and compound microscope (near point and normal focusing, resolving power), the astronomical, terrestrial and reflecting telescope, the spectrometer used to measure a prism's refractive index, and finally the human eye itself, modelled as a single variable-focal-length lens, together with it …