This volume presents an integrated view of how we perceive the spatial relations in our visual world, covering anatomical, physiological, psychophysical, and perceptual aspects. The authors discuss the visual system primarily in terms of spatial frequency analysis using a linear systems approach. They review evidence supporting a local, patch-by-patch spatial frequency filtering of visual information rather than the global Fourier analysis other researchers have proposed. A separate chapter addresses the special issues surrounding color vision, and a brief, nonmathematical introduction to linear systems analysis is included for the uninitiated reader.
Industry Reviews
"This very significant work is a unique consideration of a most important theory of spatial vision, based on extensive neurophysiological and psychophysical evidence. It would be appropriate as a textbook in an upper-level undergraduate or a graduate course on spatial vision. It belongs in the library of every serious student of the visual system." --The Quarterly Review of Biology
"This book does a good job of integrating psychophysics and neurophysiology, with a brief but useful dose of linear systems analysis serving to tie things together. . . .The DeValois' set out to present and evaluate the evidence that the visual system performs a local spatial frequency filtering of the visual input as an early stage in its analysis. They are to be commended for accomplishing this goal with admirable freshness and clarity. This book, by
virtue of its uniqueness, fills an important gap in the field of visual science." --Trends in Neurosciences
"A sweeping, authoritative, and integrated survey of what is presently known about how the visual system, especially the primate visual system, captures and encodes information about spatial patterns, including information about the sizes, shapes, and locations of objects and the textures of surfaces. . . . It is valuable reading to anyone with some background in biology who wants to know about our current understanding . . . .Must reading for specialists in
vision." --American Scientist
"They present a thorough, authoritative summary of this large body of research. . . .The book fills an important niche quite well. It is clear and assumes little background [knowledge]. . . .Its presentation of the frequency-domain perspective is so comprehensive that the book is also valuable for the experienced spatial vision researcher." --Current Eye Research
"This is an outstanding monograph on early vision, highly recommended for everyone seriously interested in the study of visual sensation, perception, and cognition. The wealth of lucidly presented knowledge and the quantity of highly important and sometimes unexpected results reviewed in the first nine chapters are very impressive. As a guide to a complex field of inquiry for the advanced student or researcher specialized in other fields of cognition, the
monograph by Russell and Karen De Valois is to my knowledge unsurpassed. This is an outstanding piece of work and a gift for anyone interested in close encounters with spatial vision." --European Journal
of Cognitive Psychology
"This very significant work is a unique consideration of a most important theory of spatial vision, based on extensive neurophysiological and psychophysical evidence. It would be appropriate as a textbook in an upper-level undergraduate or a graduate course on spatial vision. It belongs in the library of every serious student of the visual system." --The Quarterly Review of Biology
"This book does a good job of integrating psychophysics and neurophysiology, with a brief but useful dose of linear systems analysis serving to tie things together. . . .The DeValois' set out to present and evaluate the evidence that the visual system performs a local spatial frequency filtering of the visual input as an early stage in its analysis. They are to be commended for accomplishing this goal with admirable freshness and clarity. This book, by
virtue of its uniqueness, fills an important gap in the field of visual science." --Trends in Neurosciences
"A sweeping, authoritative, and integrated survey of what is presently known about how the visual system, especially the primate visual system, captures and encodes information about spatial patterns, including information about the sizes, shapes, and locations of objects and the textures of surfaces. . . . It is valuable reading to anyone with some background in biology who wants to know about our current understanding . . . .Must reading for specialists in
vision." --American Scientist
"They present a thorough, authoritative summary of this large body of research. . . .The book fills an important niche quite well. It is clear and assumes little background [knowledge]. . . .Its presentation of the frequency-domain perspective is so comprehensive that the book is also valuable for the experienced spatial vision researcher." --Current Eye Research
"This is an outstanding monograph on early vision, highly recommended for everyone seriously interested in the study of visual sensation, perception, and cognition. The wealth of lucidly presented knowledge and the quantity of highly important and sometimes unexpected results reviewed in the first nine chapters are very impressive. As a guide to a complex field of inquiry for the advanced student or researcher specialized in other fields of cognition, the
monograph by Russell and Karen De Valois is to my knowledge unsurpassed. This is an outstanding piece of work and a gift for anyone interested in close encounters with spatial vision." --European Journal
of Cognitive Psychology
