The Lighthouse Handbook on Vision Impairment and Vision Rehabilitation. Volumes 1 and 2. BarbaraSilverstone, Mary AnnLang, Bruce P.Rosenthal, and Eleanor E.Faye. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. Pages: 1371 (2 volumes). Price: $275.00. ISBN 0‐19‐509516‐2 (Volume 1), 0‐19‐509517‐0 (Volume 2).

The Lighthouse Handbook on Vision Impairment and Vision Rehabilitation. Volumes 1 and 2. Barbara Silverstone, Mary Ann Lang, Bruce P. Rosenthal, and Eleanor E. Faye. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. Pages: 1371 (2 volumes). Price: $275.00. ISBN 0-19-509516-2 (Volume 1), 0-19-509517-0 (Volume 2). The Lighthouse Handbook on Vision Impairment and Vision Rehabilitation is a two-volume tome of some 1300 pages. If not a labor of love for the editors, it represents a triumph of coordination and leadership. It aims to provide a comprehensive look at the state of the art and science of low vision and succeeds in doing so. Volume 1 addresses visual impairment including its etiology, epidemiology, and functional and social consequences. Clinicians will have alternative sources of most of the information presented in the section on vision disorders, but nonclinicians will likely find the information to be valuable. Some chapters in the first volume are excellent. Higgins and Bailey's chapter on Performance of Specific Tasks Requiring Vision is thoughtfully written and richly referenced. Other chapters, for example, Refractive Disorders, miss the target. This chapter contains several misleading statements about corneal power in ametropia and fails to discuss the risks of retinal complications and glaucoma associated with high refractive error. The emphasis on refractive surgery appears out of place unless you anticipate an epidemic of vision impairment due to surgically induced corneal dystrophies. Volume 2 focuses on all aspects of rehabilitation, including the history of low vision care, geographic variations in the provision of care, assistive devices, psychological and social factors, and service delivery. All the important issues are discussed, although the prevalence and causes of vision impairment are covered in several sections. Nonetheless, this redundancy could be considered a strength because few people will read both volumes from cover to cover. Optical low-vision devices are covered in 30 pages, and optometry students will probably want to seek more comprehensive texts such as those by Rosenthal and Cole. The case examples are insightful, but there is not room for a description of the clinician's decision-making process. In the end, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. The overviews and summaries at the beginning and end of each section orient the reader and provide a broad overview of each topic. As someone who works in the field of low vision, I have been guilty of a somewhat narrow perspective. As a clinician, I have a reasonable grasp of the underlying pathology. As a researcher, I have a firm grasp on most aspects of visual assessment. It was therefore refreshing and educational to read about vision impairment and rehabilitation from the perspective of other professions. I encourage all scientists and clinicians who work in the field of low vision to pick up a copy of the text and, after checking the extent to which their contributions are acknowledged, to read some of the sections written by professionals from other disciplines. In summary, anyone working in the field of vision rehabilitation will want to have a copy of this two-volume set. The richness of the information contained therein leads me to believe that my copy will spend more time on my desk than on my bookshelf. Mark A.