In the Eye of the Beholder: The Science of Face Perception by Vicki Bruce and Andy Young (review)

© 1999 ISAST LEONARDO REVIEWS LEONARDO, Vol. 32, No. 3, pp. 231–238, 1999 231 Leonardo Digital Reviews Editor-in-Chief: Michael Punt Coordinating Editor: Kasey Rios Asberry Reviews Panel: Fred Andersson, Rudolf Arnheim, Wilfred Arnold, Eva Belik Firebaugh, Andreas Broeckmann, Sean Cubitt, Shawn Decker, Tim Druckrey, Michele Emmer, Josh Firebaugh, George Gessert, Thom Gillespie, Tony Green, István Hargittai, Paul Hertz, Rhama Khazam, Richard Kade, Douglas Kahn, Nathalie Lafforgue, Patrick Lambelet, Michael Leggett, Michael Mosher, Axel Mulder, Kevin Murray, Frieder Nake, Robert Pepperell, Jack Ox, Rene Von Peer, Clifford Pickover, Harry Rand, Sonya Rapoport, Kasey Rios Asberry, Edward Shanken, Rhonda Roland Shearer, Yvonne Spielmann, Barbara Lee Williams, Stephen Wilson, Arthur Woods. Advisors: Roy Ascott, Annick Bureaud, Marc Battier, Curtis E.A. Karnow, David Topper, Nic Collins. Corresponding Editors: Roy Behrens, Molly Hankwitz, Bulat M. Galeyev. BOOKS IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER: THE SCIENCE OF FACE PERCEPTION by Vicki Bruce and Andy Young. Oxford Univ. Press, New York, N.Y., U.S.A., 1998. 352 pp., illus. $39.95. ISBN: 0-19852440 -4. Reviewed by Wilfred Niels Arnold, Dept. of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Univ. of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS 66160-7421, U.S.A. E-mail: . Many of us who labor at the interface of the hard sciences and the visual arts cringe when we hear unorganized criticism of the work of some extraordinary painter, sculptor or architect. Countering such diatribes with explanations about golden ratios, color theory and so forth is to no avail. All too often you will lose the battle of comparisons because , they say, it all depends on “the eye(s) of the beholder.” The intention of authors Bruce and Young in In the Eye of the Beholder is quite different, namely to explain the science of recognition, with particular emphasis on recognition of the human face. In short, there are rules that are followed and working hypotheses that abound, and these not only hold water but span a remarkable range of ages and ethnic backgrounds. The authors explain all of this in masterful fashion. I believe the authors would have been better served by just using the second part of their title or something akin to “The Science of the Face,” the title of the exhibition at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery with which release of this book was timed to coincide. On almost every page there are photographs , reproductions of artworks, computer-manipulated studies or graphics, which are nicely located with respect to the narrative. Many are in color, and good-quality paper has been used throughout the volume. References to the original literature are far from encyclopedic, but the 225 selections will probably be adequate for most of the wide and unspecialized audience intended. The subject index works and is generous enough to include some helpful double listings. For example, “dark and light patterns” is found under both “dark” and “light.” We always appreciate a separate name index, but the reference utility in this one would have been improved by including the years on each entry. Each of the seven chapters follows a more or less graded development so that readers can go as far as they wish. I imagine that most people who pick up this attractive book will find themselves scanning the graphics and being pleasantly drawn into the theme. For instance , chapter two, on the science of vision, is rich in visual exercises that exemplify the huge role of the brain in interpreting signals beyond the relatively meager ability of a camera, and the examples borrowed from Nicholas Wade, Salvador Dali and others are both profound and entertaining. The authors seem to have had a little trouble in reaching a stopping point. A section entitled “Perception of Faces by Newborn Babies” turns out to be the last. Herein we encounter a geodesic hairnet of current sensors being demonstrated on a baby; everybody is smiling . Suddenly, in the final paragraph, the authors attempt a 100-word summary for the whole book. This summary seems to have been added as an afterthought , as if a deadline were looming. This will probably be corrected in a subsequent edition. Overall, the book has much of interest for a first encounter and...