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A continuing delight in intriguing scientific phenomena is apparent throughout, communicated in lucid prose and enlivened by Gregory's customary wit...The book is a kaleidoscope of fascinating information. (John M. Findlay, Times Literary Supplement )
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Visual illusions have the capacity to both puzzle and delight: whether the swirling colours and vibrations that appear from simple concentric patterns, or surreal tricks of perspective, or the ephemeral shapes that appear as we stare into a random scattering of dots. They remind us that, contrary to the experience of everyday life, what we perceive isn't always true. In Seeing Through Illusion renowned neuropsychologist Richard Gregory explores what visual illusions can tell us about how our brains perceive the world. Looking at optical tricks and many other extraordinary phenomena, Gregory explains how scientists use them to peel back the normal processes of perception, and to reveal how the brain performs the remarkable feat of representing the real world with the kind of richness and success which we experience every day and take for granted. And these visual illusions can not only tell us about how our brain works, but they can also reveal its past. For as our nervous systems evolved, so the ways in which they perceived the visual world grew more sophisticated, moving from simple stimuli of light and darkness to the complex levels of cognition we have today. Traces of earlier stages remain buried within our brains like stratified layers, laid down through evolutionary time, and we learn how the study of different kinds of illusions helps us to glimpse these layers. Interweaving science with reflections on art and philosophy, fascinating psychological case-studies, and some amazing visual phenomena, this book reveals that we really can 'see through illusions'.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I 've read a few books of R. Gregory, with pleasure and learning much in the meantime. This book however is not what it promisses: a clear classification of illusions. Alas, the ideas in the book jump from subject to subject, it seems to me a haphazard collection of what is already present in his other books. It looks to me as a hasty try to deliver yet another book. Essentialy, the book is about his classification of illusions (blindness, ambiguity, paradox, etc.) But this classification is not at all worked out. In each category, the writer presents a few or a lot of observations with generally too little detailing, with sometimes a minimum of explanations and an unequilibrated discussion. Do not expect any new illustration; in fact there are not so many and not so originally (easily found in other books). I was disappointed - after the reading you cannot use this classification because of its being unclear. The writer pretends to present us 'The Periodic Table' of illusions, but this is a vast overstatement.
I know all this is not said in the title of the book, but then the title is not accurate (although not lying: it really is about the cognitive brain making sense out of the sensations.)
Many topics in the book are interesting, but the systematic treat is lacking. So, if this is the first book you read on illusions, it will give you the appetite for more. You will also be confused. If this would be your 5th book on illusions... skip it!
I know all this is not said in the title of the book, but then the title is not accurate (although not lying: it really is about the cognitive brain making sense out of the sensations.)
Many topics in the book are interesting, but the systematic treat is lacking. So, if this is the first book you read on illusions, it will give you the appetite for more. You will also be confused. If this would be your 5th book on illusions... skip it!
1 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Something of a mixed bag. A cross between philosophy, technical (biology/physiology) discussions and everyday problems. Readable but perhaps overly concerned with classifications.
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