Optics of the Human Eye. David A. Atchison, George Smith. Boston: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2000. Pages: 269. Price: 60. 00. ISBN 0-7506-3775-7. Donald O. Mutti, College of Optometry, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio I've been looking for a good textbook in visual optics for optometry students, something that has the readability of Bennett and Rabbetts’Clinical Visual Optics, but on a slightly smaller quarter- or semester-sized scale. Optics of the Human Eye by Atchison and Smith may not be the answer to the optometry student's prayer, but it should be in the library of every graduate or postdoctoral student with an interest in visual optics. Where the former classic text emphasizes the clinical, Optics of the Human Eye might be subtitled Experimental Visual Optics. It is a wonderfully complete yet concise collection of topics, formulae, and methods for the vision scientist. Not that clinical issues are omitted. There are brief reviews of anatomy for those who may not have a clinical background. The chapter on the aging eye should be interesting to experimenter and clinician alike. Clinically oriented chapters also deal with ocular biometry, measurement of refractive error, and the optics of ophthalmic lenses. Appropriate emphasis is given to these topics. For example, rather than spending pages explaining how to perform retinoscopy, the authors refer the reader to other more clinically oriented texts to learn the technique. One of the most valuable features of the book is that it provides a “how-to” for experimentation. For example, axes of the eye are not only defined and diagrammed, but procedures for locating them are also described. How-to equations also appear, such as those used to calculate the point-spread and optical transfer functions from wave aberration data. The first two sections of the book follow the outline for a more general textbook. Chapters deal with anatomy, the pupil, ocular components and refraction, schematic eyes, and image formation. These two sections would be accessible to any student. The mathematics involves only algebra and trigonometry, and there are many worked examples in these chapters. Section 3 discusses photometry, the passage of light through the eye, light at the retina, and light interacting with the retina. These are written for the experimenter. The mathematics appropriately intensifies while the examples and any early “leading by the hand” become less apparent. Nevertheless, the book continues to deliver on its aim of providing the essential tools in a concise form. Section 4 deals with image quality, monochromatic and chromatic aberrations. This section is not written to initiate the uninitiated, but again is directed at those who would either be contributing to or reading from the literature in this field. The section is as rich in equations and derivations as the rest of the book. Among the many positive attributes of these chapters are equations for moving between systems for describing aberrations: wave aberration coefficients and Seidel aberration values. Theoretical results are often compared to data from real eyes. Interestingly, the authors develop wave aberration polynomials based on rectangular as opposed to polar coordinates. Their description of wavefront error terminology does not use the Zernike coefficients that are becoming more common the literature and were the recommended terminology of the VSIA Taskforce on Standards for the Reporting of the Optical Aberrations of the Eye. Wavefront sensing is a fast-moving field, however, and any text runs the risk of needing continual updating. Despite any terminology gap, the theme of complete yet concise holds true here and throughout. The book is well referenced with many valuable tables of data condensed from the literature. The figures are good, simple, and clear. Equations may be occasionally crowded in the text. One wonderful feature I haven't seen before in an optics text is a listing with definitions of the symbols used at the end of each chapter. The appendices on paraxial optics, schematic eyes, and aberrations are excellent additions with extensive tables and useful equations. Mentors of students working in visual optics will find Optics of the Human Eye to be a valuable asset to their students’ training. It will appeal to those looking for both basic and advanced information. More important, it should help illuminate and resolve issues in experimentation related to visual optics.
Donald O. Mutti (Sat,) studied this question.