In a single glance, our eyes work with our brains to tell us the size, shape, color, and texture of an object. They let us know how close it is, whether it's standing still or coming toward us, and how quickly it's moving.
Only part of the eye is visible in a person's face. The whole eye — the eyeball — is about the size and shape of a ping-pong ball.
All parts of the eye are extremely delicate, so our bodies protect them in several ways. The eyeball sits in the eye socket (also called the orbit) in the skull, where it is surrounded by bone. The visible part of the eye is protected by the eyelids and the eyelashes, which help keep dirt, dust, and even harmful bright light out of the eye.