Seeing

Written by one of the pioneers in visual perception, Seeing provides an overview of the basics of sight, from the anatomy of the eye, to optical illusions, to the way neural systems process visual signs. To help readers better appreciate the most-used of our five senses, Tom Cornsweet describes the early physical and physiological processes that occur in human vision in relation to the forces of evolution. He also includes answers to common questions about vision—including those that many of us ask during a visit to an eye doctor—to illustrate how the study of vision can provide a better understanding of one’s everyday relationship with sight.

Tom Cornsweet is Professor Emeritus of Cognitive Sciences, Electrical Engineering, and Ophthalmology at the University of California, both at Irvine and Berkeley. He is an experimental psychologist, author, and inventor and is known for his work on the effect that bears his name, the Cornsweet Illusion.

Preface

1. Our Idea of the Physical World
2. The Basic Anatomy of the Eye
3. How Photoreceptors Sense Light
4. Seeing Things That Aren’t There
5. Not Seeing Things That Are There
6. Brightness Constancy
7. Why the Rate Of Unbleaching Is Important
8. A Little Optics
9. Optometrists, Ophthalmologists, Opticians: What They Do
10. Color Vision
11. Actually Seeing and Not Seeing: Neural Mechanisms

Epilogue
Appendix: Refraction by Waves
Selected Bibliography
Index