Michael Wall – författare

Measurement of visual acuity has been the cornerstone of visual testing since Snellen began quantitating visual acuity using letter optotypes in the 1860s. Bjerrum in the 1880s brought sophistication and quantitation to the assessment of the visual field with tangent screen examination using differently sized and colored targets. Further advances in visual testing did not occur until the Goldmann perimeter and the Farnsworth Munsell 100 Hue test were introduced in the 1940s, permitting further refinement in the detection and quantitation of acquired visual loss. An explosion of interest in sensory visual function testing followed the demonstration by Quigley and his colleagues in 1982 that despite the loss of more than 40% of the axons in the optic nerve, Snellen acuity and kinetic perimetry remained normal. Much of this interest has focused on a search for more sensitive and disease-specific sensory visual tests. Previously, novel tests used to probe visual function remained in the province of the visual physiologist and psychophysicist. These tests are now being introduced by the ophthalmologist into clinical practice. Concomitantly, the mass production of microcomputers and other technical advances have made tests such as automated perimetry and visual evoked response testing affordable for most offices. The clinician is presently being inundated with a plethora of visual function tests that may require a knowledge of visual psychophysics and statistics to understand and interpret. The purpose of this book is to acquaint the clinician with these new tests so that they may be used to maximum benefit.

We've all asked ourselves the question. It's impossible to look up at the stars and NOT think about it: Are we alone in the universe? Books, movies and television shows proliferate that attempt to answer this question and explore it. In OUT THERE Space.com senior writer Dr. Michael Wall treats that question as merely the beginning, touching off a wild ride of exploration into the final frontier. He considers, for instance, the myriad of questions that would arise once we do discover life beyond Earth (an eventuality which, top NASA officials told Wall, is only drawing closer). What would the first aliens we meet look like? Would they be little green men or mere microbes? Would they be found on a planet in our own solar system or orbiting a star far, far away? Would they intend to harm us, and if so, how might they do it? And might they already have visited?OUT THERE is arranged in a simple question-and-answer format. The answers are delivered in Dr. Wall's informal but informative style, which mixes in a healthy dose of humor and pop culture to make big ideas easier to swallow. Dr. Wall covers questions far beyond alien life, venturing into astronomy, physics, and the practical realities of what long-term life might be like for we mere humans in outer space, such as the idea of lunar colonies, and even economic implications. Readers won't just be hearing from Dr. Wall. As a longtime science journalist--whose work at Space.com is syndicated in outlets from Scientific American to Fox News--he has assembled an impressive array of contacts to provide expert commentary. From a former NASA chief scientist to leading science educators like Neil DeGrasse Tyson and Bill Nye to would-be space traveler Elon Musk, Dr. Wall shares the insights of some of the leading lights in space exploration today, and shows how the next space age might be brighter than ever.

There are many fleeting moments when either Colin or Tony want to smother the laughs of their wives. The two couples fight for every inch of their lives, from the garden of a house in Ealing to the grounds of a mental asylum. Women Laughing has been performed at the Royal Exchange Manchester, the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, the Palace Theatre Watford and was toured in 2000 by Not The National Theatre.