Hindsight_54_2_FINAL.pdf


HINDSIGHT: Journal of Optometry History 71

This book offers a collection of 
anecdotes and facts concerning the 
history and impact on us and our world 
of various discoveries and technologies 
involving vision. After a chapter on 
the evolution of eyes, the creations 
that are considered are firelight, 
art, mirrors, writing, spectacles, the 
printing press, telescopes, industrialized 
light, photography, moving images, 
and smartphones.

In the chapter on spectacles the author 
of course noted that their invention made 
it possible for persons with presbyopia 
to continue to be able to do work at 
close distances. She also discussed how 
there was greater interest in observation 
in the years following the invention 
of spectacles, along with increased 
representation of subtle details of faces 
and emotions in art. An interesting 
anecdote about the increased availability 
of books coming from the invention of the 
printing press was that reading became 
more often an individual activity as 
opposed to the entertainment of listening 
to a book being read out loud to a group.

The author observes that while 
smartphones are a great convenience and 
ready source of information, they “have 
enslaved our eyes like nothing before 
them.” Further, it is troubling that there 
have been great increases in depression 
and self-harm among young people in the 
years that smartphones and social media have become popular.

With each new way of seeing the world, there have been 
substantial changes in the way humans spend their time, interact 
with each other, and think of themselves. And with each new 
invention, vision became more dominant over other senses. 
Many of the inventions also emphasized more solitary pursuits. 
Although the ascendance of vision as the strongly dominant 
sense may make sense to us as eye and vision care practitioners, 

the author points out how much has 
been lost through the diminution of the 
use of hearing, smell, and touch. The 
closing advice offered by the author is to 
exercise “some caution” in future use of 
visual technologies and “take care of those 
precious, precious eyes. Switch off our 
screens and go outside…and do more 
talking, touching, tasting and smelling 
every day.”

The book is recommended for its 
interesting perspectives on visual 
technologies and their consequences. 
The author has degrees in creative 
writing, economics, law, and business. Her 
LinkedIn page describes her as an “author 
(non-fiction), editor, writer, strategic 
advisor,” and an “experienced strategy and 
management consultant with particular 
expertise in the creative, visual media and 
digital communications industries.”

BOOK REVIEW: AS FAR AS THE EYE CAN SEE: A HISTORY
OF SEEING

T

As Far as the Eye Can See: A History of 
Seeing. Susan Denham Wade. Cheltenham, 
Gloucestershire, UK: The History Press, 
2019. ISBN-13: 978-0-7509-8703-5. 304 
pages. Hardcover.

David A. Goss, O.D., Ph.D.

Emeritus Professor of Optometry, 
Indiana University

dgoss@indiana.edu

10.14434/hindsight.v54i2.37221

BOOK REVIEWS DAVID A. GOSS, OD, PHD