Fixing My Gaze: A Scientist's Journey into Seeing in Three Dimensions

Barry, Susan R.

ISBN 10: 0465009131 / ISBN 13: 9780465009138

Published by Basic Books, 2009

About this Item

First printing with full number line 1-10. Inscribed by author on title page: "For Maria, Elaine, and Susan - For changing people's vision & transforming people's lives. With admiration, Sue Barry Oct., '09". Otherwise, inside is clean and unmarked. Book slightly bowed. Dust jacket has shelf wear and creases along top but is intact. See photos.

Seller Inventory # ABE-1720808339836

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Fixing My Gaze: A Scientist's Journey into Seeing in Three Dimensions
• Publisher: Basic Books
• Publication Date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0465009131
• ISBN 13: 9780465009138
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition.
• Condition: Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Good
• Signed: Inscribed by Author
• Seller catalogs:
  • First Edition
  • Signed

About this title

Synopsis

Barry, a neuroscientist at Mount Holyoke College, was born with her eyes crossed and literally couldn't see in all three dimensions. Barry underwent several surgeries as a child, but it wasn't until she was in college that she realized she wasn't seeing in 3-D. The medical profession has believed that the visual center of the brain can't rewire itself after a critical cutoff point in a child's development, but in her 40s, with the help of optometric vision therapy, Barry showed that previously neglected neurons could be nudged back into action. The author tells a poignant story of her gradual discovery of the shapes in flowers in a vase, snowflakes falling, even the folds in coats hanging on a peg. After Barry's story was written up in the New Yorker by Oliver Sacks, she heard from many others who had successfully learned to correct their vision as adults, challenging accepted wisdom about the plasticity of the brain. Recommended for all readers who cheer stories with a triumph over se

About the Author

Susan R. Barry is a professor of neurobiology in the Department of Biological Sciences at Mount Holyoke College. She speaks regularly to scientists, eye doctors, and educators on the topic of neuronal plasticity. She has been featured on NPR and in a New Yorker article by renowned neurologist Oliver Sacks entitled “Stereo Sue.” She and her husband have two grown children and live in South Hadley, Massachusetts.