Animal Eyes

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Summary: Darwin's Scariest Problem: Origin of the Eyeball
Review: This book is a treasure for anyone with an interest in the puzzle that fascinated and terrified Darwin:- the origins of such an exquisitely-designed and multi-purpose structure as the eye.

In succinct and accessible prose, supplemented by 130 superb graphics and 16 colour plates, these two genius-savants of the world of eyeballs share 60 years of acquired wisdom about the breathtaking diversity of eyes on our planet, where even today new kinds of optical arrangements are being discovered in the eyes of different creatures.

Both authors have made numerous discoveries of new kinds of eyes and came together professionally when they independently discovered an image-forming system that uses mirrors instead lenses. In the book they share their extensive knowledge of eyes in a straight-talking and approachable way without talking down to the reader, yet without using specialist jargon. The clean graphics equal the text in weight and importance if one bears in mind the old adage about pictures being worth thousands of words, .......especially pictures like these, which cannot be drawn without a perfect understanding of the optical world being illustrated. Even if one has little knowledge of optics, the clear diagrams enable one to grasp the essential details of the different eye designs. There are also "boxes" outside the main text for those who would like added details about lens systems and optical design. Engineers may be interested to discover that different animals independently "invented" most of the optical designs currently being used in man-made devices, and that some discoveries, such as the box-mirror design without lenses, have been successfully used in industry after being inspired by the discoveries in animals of these two biologists.

The book sets the diversity of optical design into an evolutionary framework which helps to reduce the immensity of the puzzle with which Darwin originally grappled, while perhaps adding some new aspects. We still have some distance to go to understand the origins of many aspects of the diversity of eye design, particularly how multi-purpose eyes appeared that seem to combine, into the one design, all the specialized solutions seen in different animals . The book highlights such questions, and answers others, in a particularly clear way that may owe something to the authors' expertize with straight-tending paths of light.

The book is also very timely, given the vigorous current debate about the evolution of eyes and the possibility of a single "master gene" (pax6) that initiates the development of all kinds of eyes. This book is essential, fascinating reading for anyone interested in that debate if they are to be aware of the mind-boggling variety of eyes and optical systems involved. Even if that hot debate does not interest you, there is enormous satisfaction to be gained in contemplating these radically different solutions adopted by animals to image their worlds.