Treatise on Physiological Optics

"Helmholtz's Treatise on Physiological Optics" is widely recognized as the greatest book written on vision.

This classic work was translated into English to mark the centenary of Helmholtz's birth and is one of the most frequently cited books on the phyisiology and physics of vision.Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz (1821-94) was a major influence on German science during the mid-19th century, bringing it to the forefront of world attention.

He was a physicist and psychologist who made major contributions to both fields.

His "Treatise" transformed the study of vision by integrating physical, physiological and psychological dimensions.

He provided the explanation of the mechanism of accomodation, invented the ophthalmoscope, revived the three-colour theory of vision firs proposed in 1801 by Thomas Young, invented the telestereoscope, produced some novel visual illustions, and argued for the involvement of knowledge in perception.

Helmholtz became a great inspiration to many others, famously Heinrich Hertz, a student of Helmholtz, who discovered radio waves.This work was originally published in German, as "Handbuch der physiologischen Optik", in three separate volumes between 1856 and 1866, and then together in 1867.

The 3rd edition (1909-11), brought up to date and greatly expanded after Helmholtz's death, is widely considered to be the definitive edition.

The Optical Society of America commissioned the translation of this edition in 1924-5, adding further new and original material by scholars A.

Gullstrand, J. von Kries and Christine Ladd-Franklin. The Thoemmes Press edition reprints this translation in its entirety, and also adds a bibliographic index taken from the second German edition, containing 8000 references for all topics described by Helmholtz.

The reprint also features a new introduction by Nicholas Wade.