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Foundations of Cyclopean Perception
292
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF OPHTHALMOLOGY
This book is warmly recommended for orthoptists, strabismologists, and all ophthal mologists who are interested in the historical aspects of our specialty ; the 443 references should make it especially valuable for the scientific writer in this field. Gunter K. von Noorden
FOUNDATIONS OF CYCLOPEAN PERCEPTION.
By Bela Julesz. Chicago, The University of Chicago Press, 1971. Clothbound, 406 pages, table of contents, index, 332 black and white figures, 98 color figures. $20.00 Bela Julesz published the first random dot stereograms in 1960. Since then, a series of studies from his and other laboratories have systematically evaluated a variety of percep tual phenomena utilizing this technique. Random dot stereograms (or correlograms) are pairs of stimuli (each presented to one eye) which are computer-generated visual stimuli containing thousands of random dots. Monocular inspection of the input to either eye gives the appearance of a randomly tex tured surface. The information is contained in the correlations of random dots between the stimuli for both eyes. Binocular viewing of a correlogram yields the perception of a three-dimensional surface forming among the dots. The perception of the information in the correlogram occurs in a region of the brain where the monocular input from each eye is fused to produce binocular depth per ception. Dr. Julesz describes this phenomenon as a "sharp, determinate, distinctive perception of form that must originate somewhere in the visual nervous system beyond the retinae of the eyes. As psychologists, then, to a cer tain extent we have managed to look into the 'black box' of the visual system; we have found out something about where a particu lar perceptual process takes place." The book reviews research utilizing ran
FEBRUARY, 1972
dom dot correlograms and cinematograms (computer-generated movies) to investigate a variety of visual phenomena including fig ure and ground, depth perception, and visual illusions. The logic of anatomical localization using these techniques is described. Also in cluded is a "springs and magnets" model of depth perception. Almost 100 random dot correlograms de signed for viewing with a pair of red and green glasses are included in the book. A number of these may be of use to the oph thalmologist as clinical test plates for locat ing and quantifying stereopsis deficiency. Depth perception cannot be faked with these plates. The book, as elegant as it is, is probably beyond the interests of the average ophthal mologist. It is a book describing a revolu tionary research approach and, as such, it in cludes the evolution of a new jargon which makes sequential reading a necessity. It will be interesting to follow the extensions of these techniques to other problems in visual perception. Joel Pokorny
T H E THYROID. A FUNDAMENTAL AND CLINICAL TEXT, 3rd ed. Edited by Sidney
C. Werner and Signey H. Ingbar. New York, Harper & Row, 1971. Clothbound, 944 pages, table of contents, index, 276 black and white figures. $33.50 This comprehensive textbook covers the entire spectrum of the thyroid gland in de tail. There are 65 contributors, all highly qualified in their individual fields, who have written on various phases of this complex subject. This third edition of Werner's textbook now has Dr. Sidney Ingbar as co-editor, and an almost completely new group of contribu tors, attesting to the remarkable progress made in this field since publication of the 1962 edition. The book is divided into three parts. Part
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF OPHTHALMOLOGY
This book is warmly recommended for orthoptists, strabismologists, and all ophthal mologists who are interested in the historical aspects of our specialty ; the 443 references should make it especially valuable for the scientific writer in this field. Gunter K. von Noorden
FOUNDATIONS OF CYCLOPEAN PERCEPTION.
By Bela Julesz. Chicago, The University of Chicago Press, 1971. Clothbound, 406 pages, table of contents, index, 332 black and white figures, 98 color figures. $20.00 Bela Julesz published the first random dot stereograms in 1960. Since then, a series of studies from his and other laboratories have systematically evaluated a variety of percep tual phenomena utilizing this technique. Random dot stereograms (or correlograms) are pairs of stimuli (each presented to one eye) which are computer-generated visual stimuli containing thousands of random dots. Monocular inspection of the input to either eye gives the appearance of a randomly tex tured surface. The information is contained in the correlations of random dots between the stimuli for both eyes. Binocular viewing of a correlogram yields the perception of a three-dimensional surface forming among the dots. The perception of the information in the correlogram occurs in a region of the brain where the monocular input from each eye is fused to produce binocular depth per ception. Dr. Julesz describes this phenomenon as a "sharp, determinate, distinctive perception of form that must originate somewhere in the visual nervous system beyond the retinae of the eyes. As psychologists, then, to a cer tain extent we have managed to look into the 'black box' of the visual system; we have found out something about where a particu lar perceptual process takes place." The book reviews research utilizing ran
FEBRUARY, 1972
dom dot correlograms and cinematograms (computer-generated movies) to investigate a variety of visual phenomena including fig ure and ground, depth perception, and visual illusions. The logic of anatomical localization using these techniques is described. Also in cluded is a "springs and magnets" model of depth perception. Almost 100 random dot correlograms de signed for viewing with a pair of red and green glasses are included in the book. A number of these may be of use to the oph thalmologist as clinical test plates for locat ing and quantifying stereopsis deficiency. Depth perception cannot be faked with these plates. The book, as elegant as it is, is probably beyond the interests of the average ophthal mologist. It is a book describing a revolu tionary research approach and, as such, it in cludes the evolution of a new jargon which makes sequential reading a necessity. It will be interesting to follow the extensions of these techniques to other problems in visual perception. Joel Pokorny
T H E THYROID. A FUNDAMENTAL AND CLINICAL TEXT, 3rd ed. Edited by Sidney
C. Werner and Signey H. Ingbar. New York, Harper & Row, 1971. Clothbound, 944 pages, table of contents, index, 276 black and white figures. $33.50 This comprehensive textbook covers the entire spectrum of the thyroid gland in de tail. There are 65 contributors, all highly qualified in their individual fields, who have written on various phases of this complex subject. This third edition of Werner's textbook now has Dr. Sidney Ingbar as co-editor, and an almost completely new group of contribu tors, attesting to the remarkable progress made in this field since publication of the 1962 edition. The book is divided into three parts. Part