After posting about Professor Wilkins’ book on Visual Stress, I received a few inquiries about the book since it is now out of print. Coincidentally, Wilkins uploaded a copy of the entire book just last week on Research Gate, though I still prize the original copy I have in my office.
I hadn’t recalled that the frontispiece contains the following tantalizing inscription:
It is interesting that Wilkins chose this passage from Ecclesiastes, its first chapter having exerted deep influence on Western literature (as Wikipedia notes) including Lincoln’s address to Congress in 1862 quoting verse 4, and Shakespeare’s Sonnet 59 which quotes verses 9 and 10. Here are the pertinent Ecclesiastic verses, rendered in their English translation of the Hebraic text:
The page that follows Wilkins’ Ecclesiastical quote identifies the parameters of the grating pattern he introduced to subjectively test for perceptual distortions:
Wilkins extended his thoughts on visual stress beyond the publication of the 1995 book, as summarized in this paper (2004) in the Journal of Research in Reading. And in a paper published last year he elaborated on the effects of repetitive patterns in the environment as inducing visual sensory overload in susceptible patients. Professor Wilkins also has a TEDx presentation online overviewing his perspectives on visual stress.
Six years ago I blogged about a continuing education program at the annual COVD meeting in 2003 that included Professor Wilkins addressing visual stress, Rhonda Stone on the influence of color filters and lenses, Dr. Larry Wallace on the influence of optometric phototherapy, and Dr. Mitchell Scheiman on the caveats of overlooking basic accommodative, vergence, and ocular motor dysfunctions. During a panel discussion following the presentations, discussants agreed that a more unified approach in the field was necessary. I believe we’re finally progressing in that direction.
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