Bridging the knowledge gap

PUBLICATION The Eye: Basic Sciences in Practice EDITORS John V. Forrester, Andrew D. Dick, Paul G. McMenamin, Fiona Roberts and Eric Pearlman PUBLISHED BY Saunders Ltd Naming a textbook The Eye is quite a bold move, as it’s impossible to fit all there is to know into a single volume. Subtitling it “Basic Sciences in Practice” makes it more manageable. This book, published by Elsevier and edited by many, bridges the gap between knowledge of the basic sciences of the eye (anatomy, biochemistry and physiology) and all that can go wrong with it. It covers the foundations of our field. Each of the following nine topics has its own chapter in this 500-page book: anatomy, embryology, genetics, biochemistry, physiology, pharmacology, immunology, microbial infections and pathology. I found it interesting and somewhat exciting to review some of the subjects that I hadn’t seen in a while: how exactly does the retinal vasculature develop in utero? How does an EOG work? The text is supplemented by extensive and detailed illustrations, photographs and medical images as well as clinical correlates and other pearls. The book is intended for early-career visual and ophthalmic scientists as well as younger ophthalmology residents, who must develop a wide knowledge base before moving on. Indeed, the first-year residents in our department are required to study it for the annual exam.