{"product":{"product_id":"0486659577","title":"Introduction to Modern Optics (Dover Books on Physics)","price":"19.95","image_url":"https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41+Txymog8L._SL500_.jpg","url":"https://www.amazon.com/dp/0486659577"},"comments":[{"body":"Wow. It's wonderful that you're so excited about optics. I have been made fun of in the past  for wondering around and looking at stuff through binoculars just because things look so much different through binoculars. One thing that's cool to notice is that in addition to the magnification, there's a distance compression that goes on. For instance, if there is one tree close to you, and another further away, then they'll look much closer together through the binoculars or telescope. Take notice next time you have a look. I always thought it was like those old 3d viewers with the slide wheels, which I really enjoyed as a kid.\r\n\r\nI don't have a solid book recommendation, unfortunately, as most of the optics books I own are textbooks. This one from Amazon gets pretty good reviews, however, and is relatively inexpensive, but from the reviews it sounds like you should have some background in physics: http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Modern-Optics-Dover-Physics/dp/0486659577/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8\u0026amp;qid=1431040075\u0026amp;sr=8-1\u0026amp;keywords=optics.\r\n\r\nAs for astronomy, and telescopes, I think this book is the absolute best: NightWatch by Terence Dickinson. I started getting into amateur astronomy with that book. It has information on telescopes and binoculars and eyepieces, and how to choose them. It has information on the things you can see, how to read star maps, pretty much everything a beginner needs to know. I bought a few other astronomy books, but I always kept going back to this one. http://www.amazon.com/NightWatch-Practical-Guide-Viewing-Universe/dp/155407147X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8\u0026amp;qid=1431039313\u0026amp;sr=8-1\u0026amp;keywords=nightwatch+book","subreddit_name":"Optics","author":"MaskedKoala"},{"body":"Only have a week? Go with Fowles' \"Modern Optics\" \r\n\r\nhttps://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Modern-Optics-Dover-Physics/dp/0486659577/\r\n","subreddit_name":"Optics","author":"ChuckSirloin"},{"body":"Neither of these are exact matches, but it might be this: http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Modern-Optics-Dover-Physics/dp/0486659577\r\n\r\nor this:http://www.amazon.com/Principles-Light-Color-Edwin-Babbitt/dp/0766105377","subreddit_name":"whatsthatbook","author":"erumstead"}]}