Physiology of the eye

Historical Significance: Davson (1909-1996) was a distinguished English physiologist For a short period before World War II, he was taken on by Sir Stewart Duke-Elder to work on ophthalmological problems, and he continued to work on the eye until the outbreak of the war, which found him in Canada. He soon returned to England, and after the war rejoined Duke-Elder at University College for a few years where they assembled the nucleus of a research group that moved to the Institute of Ophthalmology in 1948. Before long they came into conflict, and Davson left the Institute, and experimental ophthalmology, in 1951. Later, however, in his System of Ophthalmology Duke-Elder recognized Davson's contributions by including his photograph and biography as an introduction to one of the chapters. Davson then returned to University College to commence a long and distinguished career of research into nature of the blood?brain barrier, which he demonstrated to be virtually identical with the barrier between the blood and retina. His expertise in the physiology of the eye is revealed in this book which was first published in 1949 and ran to five editions, This is a reprint of the 1st edition. The last edition was in 1989. He was also editor of the monumental and authorative series of volumes The Eye (see Cat # 586. 588, 589). The archive holds copies of the 2nd and 4th editions. He was co-founder in 1961 of Experimental Eye Research and its co-editor untill 1982. The previous owner and donor, Michael Aitken, was a graduate of the Australian College of Optometry, obtaining his LOSc in 1958, He practised in Coburg, Melbourne, Victoria. He has been the honorary archivist of the Kett Museum and Archive for more than 40 years.