Short Reviews: Michael Abrams

"Sight Unseen (non-fiction)" [permanent link]. A fascinating article that looks at what happens when a man, blind since childhood, is suddenly given sight after an operation. The article shows that much of what we know of sight is learned and experienced for the man is initially unable to interpret what he sees; he cannot recognise his wife at first from sight, depth perception is puzzling to him and he does not fall for visual illusions. Studying him is like studying how a young child learns to see and may lead to further discoveries on how we actually see.
Read from June 2002 Discover magazine