Vision Revolution, The - Softcover

Mark Changizi

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1935251767 ISBN 13: 9781935251767

Publisher: BenBella Books, 2010

Synopsis

Why do human beings have binocular vision? Why do they see colour the way they do? Why do optical illusions work? And why are people able to absorb information by reading, a relatively new development from an evolutionary perspective, more readly than by hearing, which has evolved over hundreds of thousands of years? Evolutionary scientist and neurobiologist Mark Changizi answers these questions and more in The Vision Revolution, shattering previous scientific beliefs and giving readers a radically new perspective on the history and function of human vision.

About this title

Review:

A friendly tone, colorful everyday examples and many helpful figures will draw readers science buffs or not down the rabbit hole of cognitive theory and keep them there, dazzled.”
from Publishers Weekly online (starred review), May 11, 2009

... the novel ideas that Mr. Changizi outlines in The Vision Revolution together with the evidence he does present may have a big effect on our understanding of the human brain. Their implication is that the environments we evolved in shaped the design of our visual system according to a set of deep principles. Our challenge now is to see them clearly.”
The Wall Street Journal, June 19, 2009

Throughout the book, Changizi peppers his explanations with quick, fascinating visual exercises that help to drive his points home ... Changizi's theories are appealing and logical, and he backs them with good circumstantial evidence. ... One thing is certain: The Vision Revolution will make you wonder the next time you notice someone blush, catch a ball or finish reading a magazine page.”
Scientific American MIND, July 2009

Changizi focuses on why humans have evolved such visual superpowers’ as color vision and binocularity. His answers are surprising, overturning theories that have dominated primatology since the 1970s ... Readers, however, need not be well versed in academic debates to enjoy Changizi's lucid explanations. Filled with optical illusions and simple experiments for the reader to perform, this book may be the most fun you'll have learning about human cognition and evolution.”
Barnes & Noble Spotlight Review, July 13, 2009

most imaginative, creative and entertaining ... This book will no doubt offer a revolutionary view on our daily experience of visual perception.”
Shinsuke Shimojo, Professor in Biology/Computation and Neural Systems, California Institute of Technology

Changizi has the unique ability to draw the reader into asking the most fundamental questions of why’ rather than the more mundane ones of how’...”
Romi Nijhawan, Reader in Psychology, Sussex University

This is a book that will open your eyes to the amazing feats of visual perception.”
Michael A. Webster, Foundation Professor of Psychology, University of Nevada, Reno

[Changizi] fleshes out his findings and provides a fresh take on many key issues in perception.”
Robert Deaner, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Grand Valley State University

a book full of invention and originality. If you want to learn how to think outside of the box, then this is a book for you.”
Peter Lucas, Professor of Anthropology, George Washington University

... one of the most original accounts of vision ... novel ideas that are sure to radically change your mind about the way vision works.”
Stanislas Dehaene, head of the CEA Cognitive Neuroimaging Laboratory

About the Author:

Mark Changizi is an assistant professor of cognitive science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. His research areas tend to concern the evolutionary function and design principles governing complex behaviors, perceptions and organisms. His first book appeared in 2003 and is called The Brain from 25,000 Feet: High Level Explorations of Brain Complexity, Perception, Induction and Vagueness (Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht). Dr. Changizi is the first author on 25 journal articles in diverse topics, and his research has been in more than 75 media outlets worldwide, including Time, Newsweek, USA Today, Discover, New Scientist, Financial Times, Daily Telegraph, Scientific American, The Times of London, Natural History, Reuters, ABC News, MSNBC, Fox News, Gehirn & Geist Magazine, Bild der Wissenschaft, Der Standard, Rhein Zeitung, Die Presse, Die Welt, De Morgen, Suddeutsche Zeitung, NRC Handelsblad, Internet Haber, Spiegel and Arzte Zeitung. He has also appeared as a guest on the CBC News' "As It Happens" radio show.

About this edition

• Publisher: BenBella Books
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1935251767
• ISBN 13: 9781935251767
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240