Simon Ings (2008). A natural history of seeing: The art and science of vision. New York: Norton.
Ings is a science writer and novelist, not a vision scientist, but he did his homework well. This is a fun and sometimes funny, intelligent presentation of much about the physics and psychology of vision. Ings’s topics include the evolution of vision, the chemistry of vision, and color vision. In one chapter he discusses the close relationship between vision and thought, and wonders to what degree we might consider thought to be an extension of vision. Reading this book will get you thinking at least as much about the unsolved mysteries of sight as about the facts we know.
Dale Purves & R. Beau Lotto (2011). Why we see what we do redux: A wholly empirical theory of vision (2nd ed.). Sunderland, MA: Sinauer.
This book is concerned with the relation between physical patterns of light and the percepts that our visual system generates in response to those patterns. It is filled with illusions—of lightness, color, depth, and motion—that are not readily explained in terms of bottom-up neural wiring or straightforward logical calculations. According to the authors’ empirical theory, evolution and learning have shaped the visual system such that it can match any given pattern of reflected light, probabilistically, with some percept that, in the past, has been most useful when a similar pattern was present. The book, clearly written and beautifully illustrated, challenges much conventional thinking about vision.
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Richard E. Cytowic and David M. Eagleman (2011). Wednesday is indigo blue: Discovering the brain of synesthesia. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
After years of being mostly a curiosity, synesthesia has become a serious topic for psychologists and neuroscientists. Cytowic and Eagleman present the latest research in synesthesia, arguing that “normal” perception is already multisensory and that synesthesia is a window to the mind and brain. There is an afterword by Dmitri Nabokov, whose famous father, the author Vladimir Nabokov, was a synesthete.
Scientific American (2010). 169 best illusions—A sampling. http://www.scientificamerican.com/slideshow/169-best-illusions/
This website provides examples of fun and effective optical illusions. Along with each example, the website explains what is known of how the illusion works, which environmental stimuli and sensory phenomena are at play, and who discovered (or made famous) the illusion. From color tricks to hidden images, you will enjoy the sometimes astounding, always entertaining optical illusions on this site.
J. Purkinge (undated). Deceptions of the senses are the truths of perception. http://people.cornellcollege.edu/dsherman/illusions/
You can find several more optical illusions on this fun site. Along with examples of each visual trick are explanations of how it works and the people key to the development and understanding of the illusion. This site also provides several links to further information and resources for understanding the tricks our eyes can play. From Escher’s waterfall to impossible to triangles, this website will keep you entertained with optical illusions − and the science behind them − for hours.
Saad Shaikh (2007). Eyes on ice & no blind mice: Visions of science from the science of vision. Bloomington, Indiana: AuthorHouse
Saad Shaikh is a practicing retinal surgeon whose book helps the lay-reader understand why humans are so dependent upon the ability to see. Using everything from examples from his practice to important events in medical history, Shaikh explores the importance of vision and how the effort to make clear sight possible for everyone has changed American history. This is an excellent read for anyone interested in eyesight or the medicine behind healthy vision.