The Vertebrate Visual System.

Abstract

In 1941 Stephen Polyak published "The Retina," a book which won him world-wide acclaim. This masterpiece embodies his own researches on the histology of the primate retina. Since its publication this has been the standard source of reference for those interested in retinal morphology. Polyak's interests were far wider than the histological organization of the retina, however, and in that book one can find considerable speculation on how the retina functions, based on retinal morphology. Many of his ideas have been accepted by his contemporaries who have studied retinal function by chemical or electrophysiological techniques, and Granit has paid respect and gratitude to Polyak for his histological contributions and functional interpretations. According to Kluver, his intimate friend and confidant, it was Polyak's purpose to round up his life's work by publishing a compendium of existing knowledge of the anatomy and physiology of the rest of the visual system which would