The Scope of Ophthalmology

Abstract

Those who regard science as the study of more and more about less and less will find that medicine is no exception to this process of specialisation. It is mainly by the intensive study of minutiae that medical science becomes effective and can lead to the prevention and cure of disease. The eye and its surrounding structures provide us with an ideal terrain for this type of specialisation. The importance of the eye and its function in our daily lives is sometimes underrated, but a consideration of the part played by vision in our consciousness soon makes us realise the value of vision. If we think of dreams, memories, of photographs and of almost anything in our daily existence, it is difficult to express them without visual references. After a little careful consideration of the meaning of blindness, it is easy to sense the rational and irrational fears that our patients present in daily life.