Development of the Ocular Lens, Frank J.Lovicu, Michael L.Robinson, eds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004. $130.00.

Development of the Ocular Lens Frank, J. Lovicu, Michael L. Robinson, eds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004. $130.00.FigureThis is a valuable book for developmental biologists and clinicians interested both in fundamental questions regarding the development of the refractive components of the eye, as well as those involved in the study of the causes of cataract development. The book is a compendium of twelve chapters written by 28 authors, including the two editors. It represents a comprehensive summary that blends background and historical knowledge with more advanced research on topics related to the embryology, morphology, physiology, and molecular biology of the lens of the eye. The list of authors is essentially a Who's Who of the lens development field and as such this represents an authoritative summary of research developments covering a range of topics. These include an introductory chapter describing the history and comparative features of the study of the lens, followed by a chapter on lens induction and determination and another on transcription factors and early lens development. This section (Part 1) on early lens development is followed by Part 2, which includes four chapters on lens structure, including lens anatomy, lens crystallins, lens cell membranes, and cytoskeleton. Part 3 deals specifically with lens development and growth and includes five chapters on cell proliferation, lens fiber differentiation, the role of matrix and cell adhesion molecules, growth factors and lens development, and lens regeneration studies. In general, the chapters are clearly written, and there is a considerable amount of cross-referencing from one chapter to the other. In any book of this type, there is bound to be some overlap. The authors were obviously chosen to represent relatively narrow zones of expertise, but as expected, each author is interested in the overall study of lens development. As a result, a number of chapters provide the usual introductory summary of lens development from lens placode to lens vesicle to primary lens fibers to secondary lens fibers. In some chapters, there is more overlap than in others. For example, the role of the optic vesicle in lens induction is reviewed in chapters two and eleven while transcription factors involved in lens development are described both in chapters three and eleven. Moreover, the boundary between Part 1 (Early Lens Development) and Part 3 (Lens Development and Growth) is not clear. The need for an extensive review of the history of the study of the eye and comparative descriptions of the eye, reviewed in chapter one, is questionable in a text specifically concerning the lens. Both topics are very adequately, if not better covered, elsewhere. Aside from the question of overlap, which is probably unavoidable in a book of this type, there are relatively minor issues of a technical nature that annoyed this reviewer. These include the fact that the references are all located at the end of the book, rather than at the ends of each chapter, which is more common in a multi-authored book, as well as the location of a series of color plates (duplicates of some of the black and white figures found in the book) without warning in the middle of chapter three. A final criticism is a more serious one. In spite of the fact that there is repeated reference made throughout the book to the fact that the primary function of the lens is to focus light on the retina, there is almost no connection made between lens development and lens optical function. Brief mentions of lens refractive function are made in relation to lens suture development (chapter 4) and the in the study of the expression of lens crystallins (chapter five) and in the introductory paragraph of chapter seven, but that is it. Moreover, the accommodative function of the lens, a prime concern in understanding the human eye, is mentioned only once, in chapter nine. While optical studies of the lens are not as common as those concerning lens developmental biology, there is a growing literature on this topic, and the book would have had more relevance had a chapter dealing with lens optical development been included. Obvious and long-standing questions such as the connection between lens development and the formation of a gradient refractive index, or the relation between lens structure and accommodative function, remain to be answered, and this can only come about by closing the gap between developmental biology and visual optics. Jacob G. Sivak School of Optometry University of Waterloo Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

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