A polycarbonate having high transparency, a high refractive index, low birefringence, moldability and moist heat resistance and an optical member comprising the same. The polycarbonate comprises 98 to 2 mol % of a unit represented by the following formula (I) and 2 to 98 mol % of a unit represented by the following formula (II) and has a specific viscosity measured at 20° C. of a solution prepared by dissolving 0.7 g of the polycarbonate in 100 ml of methylene chloride of 0.12 to 0.40. In the formula (I), R1 to R8 are each independently a hydrogen atom, fluorine atom, chlorine atom, bromine atom, iodine atom, alkyl group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms, aryl group having 6 to 12 carbon atoms, alkenyl group having 2 to 6 carbon atoms, alkoxy group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms or aralkyl group having 7 to 17 carbon atoms. In the formula (II), R9 to R12 are each independently a hydrogen atom, hydrocarbon group which may contain an aromatic group having 1 to 9 carbon atoms, or halogen atom, X is an alkylene group, and “n” is an integer of 0 to 3.