A Natural History of Seeing: The Art and Science of Vision [Hardcover]

Simon Ings (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 17, 2008

The science, history, philosophy, and mythology of how and why we see the way we do.

We spend about one-tenth of our waking hours completely blind. Only one percent of what we see is in focus at any one time. There is no direct fossil evidence for the evolution of the eye. In graceful, accessible prose, novelist and science writer Simon Ings sets out to solve these and other mysteries of seeing.

A Natural History of Seeing delves into both the evolution of sight and the evolution of our understanding of sight. It gives us the natural science—the physics of light and the biology of animals and humans alike—while also addressing Leonardo's theories of perception in painting and Homer's confused and strangely limited sense of color. Panoramic in every sense, it reaches back to the first seers (and to ancient beliefs that vision is the product of mysterious optic rays) and forward to the promise of modern experiments in making robots that see. 16 pages of color; 90 black-and-white illustrations

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

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. --Gilbert Taylor

About the Author

Simon Ings's most recent novel is The Weight of Numbers. His science features and interviews have appeared in magazines as diverse as New Scientist, Wired, and Dazed and Confused. Ings lives in London.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; 1 edition (October 17, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 039306719X
• ISBN-13: 978-0393067194
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #224,489 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #37 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Aging > Eye Problems
  • #57 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Physics > Optics

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More Isaak Walton Than Isaac Newton, October 7, 2009

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Giordano Bruno (Wherever I am, I am.) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Natural History of Seeing: The Art and Science of Vision (Hardcover)

"A Natural History of Seeing" is not a textbook in optics nor a 'history of science' in the usual sense. Simon Ings is not an ophthalmologist or an academic scientist. He's a writer. But he's also a superbly diligent researcher; the closest comparison would be, I think, to John McPhee, and this densely interesting book reminds me of McPhee's enormous book on the tectonic geology of North America. Ings does report on recent research into the physiology of eyes, human and non-human, but his chief concern is with the semiotics (forgive me that ugly word just once, please) of vision, that is, the role sight plays in intelligence, consciousness, society, history, and evolution. His style is free-ranging, discursive, parenthetical... and highly amusing. Hence the reference to Isaak Walton, though Montaigne might also come to mind. I'd hate to have to use this book as a study trot for an exam, but I haven't read a science-centered essay with such pleasure in a long time.

Although tracing the evolution of the eye - meaning inevitably the human eye - is not Ing's chief purpose, his chapters on evolution will be the most provocative for many readers. Provocative of thought, I hope, rather than emotion. Most readers are aware that the 'perfection' of the eye has been wielded as evidence of "Intelligent Design". How could such a complex organ have evolved by random tiny increments, the argument goes, and what selective advantage would a half-finished eye afford? Darwin himself contributed to this fracas by murmuring in his writings that the evolution of the eye presented him with headaches. But in fact the evolutionary progress of the eye from mere swatches of light-sensitive pigment, to light-sensing skin patches, to various sorts of eyes of diverse capabilities has been fairly well established by now, and offers, if anything, quite strong evidence of the incremental power of biological evolution - conservative, opportunistic, inevitable. What's fascinating in Ing's account is his reversal of the usual question. Instead of asking "how could evolution produce vision?", Ing proposes that we should ask "how has vision affected/effected evolution?" Ing speculates, with plenty of evidence and with appropriate reservations, that vision was one of the prime stimuli for the Cambrian Explosion of animal species, the 'saltation' that produced virtually all of the 'body plans' of the animal kingdom within a few million years. In other words, vision formed "us" before "we" needed eyes.

But Ing ranges farther than a study of origins. He also takes on the subtle balance of vision and self-awareness and the chicken/egg problem of vision or communication. And he doesn't shy away from the age-old philosophical issues of epistemology, that is, of the subjective nature of vision and the dilemma of how we can know that what we see is really what is.

This is a book that requires close reading and concentration. It will exercise your short-term memory, to keep the strands of Ing's discourse woven together. It's the sort of book that gets better the better you require yourself to be as a reader. If you like that level of challenge, it's a wonderful book indeed.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eye loved it!, January 19, 2009

By 

Dave English (Arizona, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: A Natural History of Seeing: The Art and Science of Vision (Hardcover)

An enjoyable readable romp around the subject of eyes and vision. It's a serious science book (fully referenced) that reads like a fun article. The passion and the excitement the author has for his subject is clear, which means we get to effortlessly learn about this fascinating subject as we bounce around from insect eyes to octopus eyes to color perception and the Mars Pathfinder. The `natural' in the title correctly foreshadows the ecological and biological slant (not much for computational or constructionist fans here), and the `history' part is also covered in a depth not seen in textbooks (that must cover what is known not how we got here).

Highly recommended for general readers interested in how they (and the rest of the world) get to see letters on pages, as well as for graduate psychology students like me looking to broaden/deepen their sensation/perception knowledge.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An addictive and entertaining education on vision, December 26, 2008

By 

J. J. SELL (MI United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Natural History of Seeing: The Art and Science of Vision (Hardcover)

As a biology student, I read a lot of science books. While not quite as technical as some, this book is delightfully entertaining, informative, and addicting. I couldn't put it down.

It's well-written, clear and easy reading for a non-scientist, and yet still intriguing for the more science-minded. Technical discussions of the mechanisms, evolution, and development of vision are well-explained. Entertaining optical illusions are presented, along with underlying theory. There are also many fascinating factoids about the vision of many different species of animals.

I'm confused by the earlier reviewer's complaint that notes permeated the text. In my copy (first American edition) the notes are, in fact, lumped into an appendix in the back. They certainly don't clutter the reading.

It has been a while since I was so enamored with a science book, and I highly recommend this to anyone remotely interested in the subject of vision.