The Object Stares Back: On the Nature of SeeingPaperback, 15 July 1997

At first it appears that nothing could be easier than seeing. We just focus our eyes and take in whatever it is before us. This ability seems detached, efficient, and rational--as if the eyes were competent machines telling us everything about the world without distorting it in any way. Using drawings, paintings, diagrams, and photographs to illustrate his points, Elkins raises intriguing questions and offers astonishing perception about the nature of vision.