The Eye Book has been a challenge to write because it walks a tightrope between being informative in the manner of a textbook and providing a book that is simply an interesting read about eyes. I intended a balance of both, but if I have slipped, then it is towards general interest. After all, there are many prestigious textbooks on eye structure and function, and just as many again that are totally unintelligible to the general reader who wants to know a little more about the most precious sense of sight.

Textbooks tend to be about eye structure, vision, visual aids, eye complaints and so on, but they rarely attempt to cover more than a narrow remit in great detail. What I have tried to do is to soar through all of these and also to embrace several other areas including the different kinds of eye professionals, historical eye care, famous people who have coped with eye problems, eye make-up, eyes in society, and eyes in mythology and religion. Finally I end up with a discussion of the appalling tragedy that is world blindness and what may be developed in the future to combat the evergrowing problem of visual handicap in both the developed and the underdeveloped world.

At whom is this book aimed? At everyone who has glasses or needs glasses, anyone who has a relative with an eye complaint, and basically all of us, because just about everyone will need to visit an eye professional at some time in their life. The general practitioner may find some parts of value, and I hope that the book will be a useful introduction for a student who is considering a future in orthoptics or optometry or for a nurse who might specialize in eye care.

As the book is not just for health-care professionals, I have tried to keep technical and medical words to a minimum. Unfortunately, however, I have had to include some specialized terms because eye professionals use them in their day-to-day work, and also too often when they try to communicate with their patients and the general public. If you do find an unfamiliar word (many of which are in italics at their first use) please refer to the glossary at the end of the book.