The Evolution of the Eye

With fascinating, spectacularly beautiful images, the book piques readers’ curiosity about the diversity of visual organs. This book is the result of a dual approach – scientific as well as aesthetic. The compelling images are accompanied by an easy-to-read, understandable text, aimed at both scientists and the educated public, and generally anyone interested in the beauty of nature. Thanks to this combination, the book presents the staggering diversity of eyes in the animal kingdom and provides countless insights into the intriguing mechanisms at work – from simple pigment cups to independently flexible, telescopic, facet and lens eyes.

Educational, exciting, entertaining till the last page, this is a book for anyone who is interested in evolution, nature and the miracle of life.

Georg Glaeser has been professor of mathematics and geometry at the University of Applied Arts Vienna since 1998. As an author of numerous books on the topics of mathematics, geometry, computer graphics and photography, he simultaneously indulges a deep passion for animal photography. He specializes in a unique synthesis that bridges mathematics and biology through the prism of popular science. His latest book on this topic – Nature and Numbers – was published by Birkhauser in 2014.

Hannes F. Paulus, professor of zoology, lectured at Freiburg University between 1973 and 1991. From 1993 to 2013, he headed the Department of Evolutionary Biology at the University of Vienna. In his numerous scientific publications and contributions to scientific journals and academic textbooks, he addresses the morphological evolution of eyes (of arthropods in particular); he later developed a deep passion for the biology of pollination, putting particular focus on the sexual deception of orchids. His research led him to South America, Africa and to virtually all parts of the Mediterranean. Since 2013, he has been enjoying his retirement while continuing work at the Department of Integrative Zoology at the University of Vienna.