The First Steps in Seeing is about the eyes, and how they capture an image and convert it to the neural messages that ultimately result in visual experience.
A full appreciation of how the eyes work is rooted in diverse areas of science--optics; biochemistry and photochemistry; molecular biology, cell biology, neurobiology, and evolutionary biology; psychology and psychophysics.
The findings related to vision from any one of these fields are not difficult to understand in themselves, but, in order to be clear and precise, each discipline has developed its own set of words and conceptual relations--in effect, its own language--and for those wanting a broad introduction to vision these separate languages can present more of an impediment to understanding than an aid. However, what lies beneath these words usually has a beautiful simplicity, and it is the aim of The First Steps in Seeing to describe how we see in a manner that is understandable to all.
In this book, the use of technical terms is restricted, and several hundred full-color illustrations ensure that the terms that are used are associated with a picture, icon, or graph that visually expresses their meaning. Experimental findings have been recast in terms of the natural world whenever possible, and broad themes bring together lines of thought that are often treated separately.
Fourteen main chapters form a "thread" that tells the main scientific story and can be read without specialized knowedge or reliance on other sources. This thread is linked to fourteen discussions which explore certain crucial topics in greater depth. Notes link the material presented in the thread and in the special topics discussions to important review articles and seminal research papers.
The First Steps in Seeing is an innovative, authoritative work that belongs in the library of anyone with an interest in visual perception.

Rodieck, Robert W., 1937-

Sunderland, Mass.: Sinauer Associates

Oxford University Press, Incorporated

Sinauer Associates, Incorporated

United States, United States of America

Sunderland, Massachusetts, 2018

1st, First Edition, FR, 1998

Includes bibliographical references (p. [547]-555) and index.

<p>Text on the eyes and how they capture an image and convert it to neural messages that result in visual experience. Very comprehensive text includes what we know about sight and what we don't know: how ganglion cells respond under natural conditions, how ganglion cell action potentials are used, how cortical action potentials are used, and how the striate cortex deals with image movement. Full-color illustrations visually express terms and what they mean.</p> <h3>Booknews</h3> <p>An examination of how the eyes capture an image and convert it to the neural messages that result in visual experience. The author avoids the specialized vocabulary of opticians, optometrists, and other specialists to make the material as accessible as possible to a wide audience. Specific topics include retinal organization, how photoreceptors work, cone pathways, cell types, and informing the brain. Includes numerous color illustrations and some color photographs to aid in the explication of this complex subject. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.</p>

It is about the eyes, how they capture an image and convert it to the neural messages that result in visual experience. The number of technical terms has been restricted, and those that are used are illustrated with hundreds of full-colour pictures, icons and graphs.

xi, 562 p. : 29 cm
Includes bibliographical references (p. [547]-555) and index

2023-06-28