Surgeon considers meaning of optimum optical performance

The eye is far more complex and variable than we previously thought. As with all biological systems, there are inconspicuous, obscure measurable differences that are not always evident. Many ophthalmologists and the public at large think of the eyeball as being shaped like a basketball with set, regular curved surfaces that should perfectly refract and conduct light rays. In astigmatism, the eye may be described as resembling an American football. Methods of measurement and evaluation have grown more sophisticated, revealing the eye’s nuances in structural variation and processing that make our visual world function in the face of such tremendous complexity.I often refer to portobello mushrooms to illustrate ocular variance. We know shiitake mushrooms are not baby bellos. However, if you carefully observe a box of baby bellos, they are all different, as in every biological system. Some are flatter in the center, some are peaked, and some have steep edges, not to mention all the variation in size. Why do we think eyes and the visual system are any different? Mandelbrot’s book on fractals explains that the formulas we use to systemize and smooth results are actually fictitious. Things get measured at a coarser level to incorporate the small variances that always exist.