Treatise on Physiological Optics Volumes 1, 2 and 3

Historical Significance: This is a re-printing by Dover Publications Inc of the English translation of Helmhotz' 'Treatise on Physiological Optics' that was first published by the Optical Society of America in 1926 under the editorship of James P C Southhall (See Cat Nos 84-86). The original German language Editions were published in 1867, 1896 and 1909. The first Dover Edition was in 1962 bound as two volumes. Herman von Helmholtz (1821 - 1894) is a towering figure in vision science. He qualified in medicine at the Berlin Medical Institute in 1843 and began researching while on military service as a physician in Potsdam. By 1858 he was Professor of Anatomy & Physiology in Bonn and after professorial appointments in Konigsberg & Heildelberg became Professor of Physics in Berlin in 1871. He is best known for his work on mathematical physics and acoustics but he is also the father of vision science. The translator, James P. C. Southall (1871- ?), was a physicist with a special interest in optics. He taught physics at a number of USA universities before joining Columbia University in 1914, where he served until his retirement in 1940. His specialties were geometrical optics and physiological optics. He wrote Principles of Geometrical Optics in 1910 and Mirrors, Prisms and Lenses (1918, rev. eds. 1923, 1934). He is probably best known as editor of the American English language edition of Helmholtz's Physiological Optics published in 3 volumes 1924-25. Cat No 84. 85, 86. He also wrote Introduction to Physiological Optics (1941). He wrote many papers, a number of which appeared in JOSA, on optical illusions and geometrical optics. He served as president of the Optical Society of America in 1921.