Author Description

The mechanism by which photoreceptor cells in the eyes of higher animals absorb light, giving rise to receptor potentials that initiate the visual process, is a subject of active research in biophysics today. The pace of this research and its multidisciplinary nature have made it difficult for the nonexpert to keep abreast of new discoveries. This book aims to provide a more coherent, compact summary of our knowledge about the field that has been available, serving as an up-to-date introduction to the role of photoreceptors in vision. The book is a self-contained, concise handbook for the reader who has at least a college level knowledge if cell biology, biochemistry, physical chemistry, neurobiology and physics. The authors describe the physical parameters of light and proceed to describe the mechanisms by which photoreceptors extract information about each parameter. The discussion of mechanisms is organized by discipline, following the general sequence of cellular morphology, visual pigment chemistery, and receptor physiology. Photoreceptors: their role in vision is an integrated sourcebook which will serve the novice as a 'stepping stone' to the vast and exciting scientific literature of the field.