Better Eyesight: The Complete Magazines of William H. Bates [Paperback]

Thomas R. Quackenbush (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 14, 2000

Artists, teachers, army officers, housewives, elderly people, parents, and children with vision problems write about their experiences with the Bates Method and giving up their glasses in Better Eyesight. Major eye conditions (myopia, astigmaticsm, farsightedness, presbyopia, amblyopia, strabismus, cataract, gluacome, blindness) are discussed by Bates, other opthalmologists, the medical community, and readers. The significance of this literature is both historical and immediate. For the first time, the connection between eyestrain to shoulder and neck pain, headaches, and other muscular tension is discussed.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Thomas R. Quackenbush is a West Coast vision educator who, in Relearning to See, gave readers the most thorough and technical description of the Bates Method of natural vision improvement currently in existence. He showed how relearning correct vision habits and skills ("sketch, breathe, and blink") could loosen the rigidity of head, eye, and neck muscles that results in blur.

Product Details

• Paperback: 708 pages
• Publisher: North Atlantic Books (December 14, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1556433514
• ISBN-13: 978-1556433511
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 1.6 x 11 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #334,159 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #48 in Books > Medical Books > Allied Health Professions > Optometry
  • #53 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Aging > Eye Problems

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

122 of 124 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Priceless Legacy, January 21, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Better Eyesight: The Complete Magazines of William H. Bates (Paperback)

In his introduction the author refers to the contents of the Better Eyesight magazines as a treasure chest. Actually this compilation is priceless! It is chock-full of absorbing information ---articles by Dr. Bates, case studies and many testimonials from people of all ages and all walks of life --- covering supposedly irreversible conditions such as nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism, cataracts, glaucoma and many more. If you are not amazed by what you read in at least one case history, then you'd better have someone check you for a pulse. The book also confirms that Dr. Bates' teachings had nothing to do with eye aerobics and everything to do with relearning how to RELAX the mind and the eyes for better vision and improved overall health.

Even though I'm not a novice at natural vision improvement (see Relearning to See review), this book has greatly inspired me. The moment I began reading Better Eyesight, it was like stepping back in time to get personal advice from Dr. Bates in his clinic. It was also uncanny to read many unique observations so similar to my eye re-education experiences. I'm on the homeward stretch of my 20/20 goal (or keener!) and Better Eyesight has bolstered my motivation. It's helped remind me to quickly recognize and correct myself when I lapse into poor vision habits and my progress has surged.

Dr. Bates humbly stated that he had no external cure to improve eyesight. It was nature's way of healing and he cited cases where people improved their vision with no knowledge of his teachings. (I know of two adults who hated their prescribed glasses as kids, quit wearing them, and their sight returned to normal.) However Dr. Bates found that most people, especially those who'd worn lenses for any length of time, needed to relearn the relaxed use of their eyes to have any chance of reversing locked-in strain and blur.

Dr. Bates appeared to have high scientific principles, yet knew the limitations of science and the dangers of submissive adherence to authoritative dogma. He once believed the orthodox teachings and it took him many years to reconcile their errors to his satisfaction. His findings were well documented and published in the medical journals and scientific literature of the day and apparently went unchallenged. Instead Dr. Bates was ostracized and ridiculed in such a bigoted and arrogant manner. He seemed to take it all in stride with a sense of humor by interspersing his wit in many articles squarely aimed at the nay-sayers.

Better Eyesight also gives glimpses of Dr. Bates beyond the eye clinic. His ethics, values and philosophy towards industrialization, mass-education and modern medicine closely parallel views of more contemporary social critics such as author Ivan Illich. In Limits to Medicine --- Medical Nemesis, Illich provides a definition from a medical dictionary of iatrogenic conditions or disorders. In essence, they are those caused by medical intervention. Progressive myopia has to be the granddaddy of all iatrogenic disorders, mainly due to the prescribing of full-power compensating lenses, and not the genetic disorder falsely invented.

Another interesting facet of Dr. Bates was his discovery of adrenaline, now a household word when we hear overpaid professional athletes on TV talk about their adrenaline rush. Yet sadly the benevolent work of improving vision naturally for which Dr. Bates dedicated his life is so little known and has been so grossly maligned. Thankfully his teaching methods and writings were preserved and have been edited and annotated by the author in this legacy. Hopefully it will help set the record straight and give Dr. Bates more widespread recognition that's long overdue.

Maybe some future day when these teachings become mainstream principles a museum will house a chamber of horrors displaying artifacts of the iatrogenic era. Animated lifelike figures in a "Blind Faith" section could depict people straining to see through Coke-bottle glasses, poking bloodshot eyes to insert contact lenses and having corneas burned by lasers. Aghast parents will be at a loss to explain to their children how so many people willingly paid to be maltreated in the name of progress.

53 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A legend, November 17, 2003

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Better Eyesight: The Complete Magazines of William H. Bates (Paperback)

This books is more easier to understand then the other book by Thomas Quackenbush. This book is more practical in that it explains the principles of better eyesight and how to improve on it. The Relearning to See book is great but it's more of a scientific academic fact kind of book. This book is more motivating as it gives case studies and proof that the method works. You can't get this priceless information anywhere else. It is my opinion that this book is the best book out there on natural improvements of eyesight. If you have only one book to choose for eyesight. Get this one. It's a legend in it's own right.

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Better Eyesight: The Complete Magazines of William H. Bates, August 25, 2006

By 

Dougal (Miami, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Better Eyesight: The Complete Magazines of William H. Bates (Paperback)

I am amazed by how much this book has helped me. Bates' principles really do work! I have only been reading the book for about a month, yet my eyesight is improving. I can't wait until my next eye appointment so I can surprise my ophthamologist (who gave me stronger glasses at my last eye exam -- they are now too strong for me to wear!).