Light of the appropriate wavelength is processed through the retina and optic nerve to reach the occipital cortex and thence consciousness. The processing of signal should be straightforward although elusive in its detail. Light passes through the cornea, gets focused through the lens, and strikes the retina, where dim-light rods or bright-light cones act as photoreceptors and synapse in the retina before the careful light map is sent to the visual cortex in the occipital area of the brain. Our species is competent to process light in the spectrum from red at 390 nm to violet at 750 nm. Our view of the world is deeply intertwined in our ability to process this lovely rainbow of the electromagnetic spectrum. From the relatively simple representation of light reflected from objects, we form our sense of our surroundings and process that information into a richly intricate, metaphoric, symbolic logic. An image is an artifact that is similar to a subject and can be perceived by our visual apparatus. It is based on light we can perceive in the visual spectrum. Imaging is a matter of creating images for our eyes to behold and process. Now it gets complicated.
展开▼
