Quick Reference Dictionary of Eyecare Terminology, 3rd. Ed. Joseph Hoffman, Janice K. Ledford, eds. Thorofare, NJ: Slack Inc. , 2002. Pages: 344. Price: 24. 00. ISBN 1-55642-472-8. SLACK Incorporated's publication of Quick Reference Dictionary of Eyecare Terminology (Third Edition), co-edited by Joseph Hoffman and Janice Ledford, marks the transition in editorial responsibilities from the former to the latter. As the title suggests, this book is intended to provide succinct definitions pertinent to all fields of eyecare. Structurally, the book is a portable, nearly pocket-sized paperback. The layout is user friendly with bold, easy-to-look-up headings. Throughout the dictionary, entries contain helpful invitations to compare and contrast other related terms. The text is divided, functionally, into two separate sections. The first consists of the actual dictionary portion. The remaining section is composed of 21 appendices. Covered within the appendices are many helpful topics such as the following: commonly used abbreviations, ophthalmic drugs, potential side effects of topical ocular drugs, ocular associations of systemic diseases, metric system usage, and eyecare-related websites. While Quick Reference Dictionary of Eyecare Terminology is nearly 330 pages, the glossary encompasses only the first 192 pages. As such, it cannot be (and does not intend to be) an exhaustive account of all vision-related terminology. The editors favor concise definitions, reasonably assuming that the reader already possesses a certain familiarity with the concepts. This book would prove especially beneficial to the developing eyecare student who needs a compilation of brief and straightforward definitions. Also, it would serve well those veterans in the various fields who might need a refresher. However, those individuals who require extensive detail on a topic, or those who prefer the use of pictures and diagrams, may want to consider a more complete work. Among the better aspects of this book are the presence of such current concepts as photodynamic therapy and refractive laser procedures. Layout and content are, for the most part, unobjectionable. On the contrary, problematic are several inaccuracies that prove to be distracting. The most notable example in the definition of 20/20, the terms numerator and denominator are confused, thus, essentially turning our beloved Snellen acuity on its head. These errors are unfortunate, in that they detract from what is, otherwise, a quality reference work. Janice Ledford, having just assumed primary editorial duties for this and subsequent editions, is dedicated to soliciting input for future improvements. The present edition seems to suffer from transitional growing pains. I anticipate that many of these oversights will be remedied in the upcoming fourth edition.
David J. Dawson (Wed,) studied this question.