Review by Booklist Review
Ings avoids a conventional approach to his subject, the sense of sight, opting instead for an eclectic presentation. Although he brings in the people who discovered the anatomy, chemistry, genetics, and psychology of human vision, Ings integrates them into a narrative directed more by his own thoughts about the eye, whether prompted by watching his infant daughter's way of watching things or by musing on the play of light outside his window. This personal train of thought, however, is robustly reinforced by Ings' engagement with research on vision from ancient times to the present; curiosity and a willingness to challenge whether experts have got it right are the attractive qualities of his book. Packed with illustrations, it unpacks the apparent continuous quality of human vision by exploring the actual discontinuity of the sense, from the blind spot to the saccade, a term for the eye's twitchy reassembly many times per second of its field of view. Diving into evolution, too, Ings' excitement about sight will entice science buffs.--Taylor, Gilbert Copyright 2008 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Science writer and novelist Ings (The Weight of Numbers, 2006, etc.) compresses an encyclopedia's worth of information about the evolution, makeup and function of the eye into an energetic, accessible volume. He fuses history, science and personal anecdote to explain vision as it belongs to "a commonwealth of the senses," while also relating the generations of brilliant researchers (Kepler, Brahe, Platter, da Vinci, al-Kindi) whose investigations cohere into the comprehensive understanding of sight and vision that we possess today. Exuding curiosity and awe, Ings delves into the wonders of trilobites and their compelling calcite lenses; the children of the Burmese Moken, whose pupils have evolved to shrink unimaginably small in order to increase acuity underwater; the connection among "night blindness," malnutrition, the retinal pigment rhodopsin and Vitamin A; the curious and revelatory Ophthalmosaurus fossil, whose vertebrate eyes contained bone. Alongside this technical history, Ings examines the philosophical implications of sight, exploring color as "a construction of mind" in addition to the reactions of rods and cones. The eye plays an important role in behavioral development, providing universal cues and expressions that build social skills starting in infancy. An instinct as simple as following another person's line of sight is an integral part of communication; only when sight is taken away do these basic facets of interaction reveal themselves as fundamental. The author concludes with a chapter discussing the possibilities of electronic sight, including ultrasound spectacles that convey information directly to electrodes positioned on the surface of the visual cortex, and prosthetic retinal implants that would enable non-damaged ganglion cells to bypass damaged photoreceptors and recapture light. At MIT, Rodney Brooks's "embodied" artificial intelligence could produce miniaturized robots whose vision--and perhaps cognition--mirror or exceed our own. These and other innovations are not science fiction, but modern-day accomplishments ushering in what Ings dubs "the Perception Revolution," which could very well redefine the way we see the world. A keen, colorful contribution to popular science. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
