Popular lectures on scientific subjects (Spine title: Popular scientific lectures)

Historical Significance: The lectures are a series given in Frankfurt and Heidelberg, later published in 'Preussische Jahrbucker' in 1868 but to which illustrations and some new text have been added by Helmholtz in this reprint. The vision lecture is in three parts, the eye as an optical instrument, the sensation of sight and the perception of sight. 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 is also the father of vision science (See Cat Nos 84. 85, 86 for the English language edition of Helmhotz' Treatise on Physiological Optics'. The author of the preface, John Tyndall (1820 - 1893) , was professor of physics at the Royal Institute of Great Britain and the discoverer of the Tyndal effect in atmospheric scattering.