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10/03:
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* A "mini", 1/3 size, edition of Relearning to See is now available to non-English, foreign publishers. Contact Sarah Serafimidis, Foreign Rights Manager/Permissions, Berkeley, California USA, Phone: 510-559-8277 x16, Fax: 510-559-8279, sserafimidis@northatlanticbooks.com.
* Projects in the works: Chinese, Hindi, Indonesian, and French versions of Relearning to See.
*Free Radio talks available: go to Home.
* Better Eyesight: The Complete Magazines of William H. Bates.
Paperback, 2001
North Atlantic Books (Berkeley, California)
708 pages, illustrations, 25 eyecharts
Dimensions (in inches, approximate): 8.5 x 11 x 1.7
ISBN: 1556433514
$27.50 Retail
Better
Eyesight can usually be ordered at discount from Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com.
Better Eyesight
was listed as the
#3 Bestseller on November 9, 2004 and the
#2 Most Popular on October 16, 2005
under "Eye Problems" on Amazon.com.
Google Book Search:
Many sample pages are available on Google Book Search. Enter Better Eyesight: The Complete Magazines of William H. Bates at that link.
Better Eyesight: The Complete Magazines of William H. Bates is a compilation of writings from Dr. Bates' eleven years (1919-1930) of monthly magazines on improving eyesight naturally. This collection contains many inspirational reports and testimonials of Natural Eyesight Improvement–including nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism, presbyopia, strabismus (e.g. crossed eye), amblyopia ("lazy eye"), eyestrain, headaches, cataracts, glaucoma, keratoconus, atrophy of the optic nerve, blindness, iritis, retinitis pigmentosa, opacity of the cornea, retinal lattice degeneration and hole, other serious eye problems, and much more–––over a half million words! Most of the students in these magazines were taught by Dr. Bates, Emily Lierman (Dr. Bates' long-time assistant, and later, his wife), and other NEI teachers–including medical doctors and ophthalmologists. Many students obtained 20/10 and better sight. There are specific instructions for improving eyesight in this book. Much of the information in this work extends beyond Dr. Bates' original 1920 book Perfect Sight Without Glasses. 25 Eyecharts and Test Cards are included; most are reproductions of the eyecharts and test cards used by Dr. Bates. Also included are excerpts from Emily A. Bates' 1926 book Stories from the Clinic. Includes a Table of Contents and extensive Index to aid in quickly locating any topic on Natural Eyesight Improvement. Better Eyesight is the perfect supplement to the bestselling NEI textbook Relearning to See.
Excerpts from the back cover:
In his new work, Quackenbush reprints the entire publishing run of Better Eyesight, the magazine of Dr. William H. Bates (1860-1931) published in New York City monthly from July 1919 to June 1930. The Bates Method reached the heartland of America and a significant international audience through these articles, which described how the method worked with adults and school children, gave "stories from the clinic" each month, and shared the method as it was developing. Artists, teachers, army officers, housewives, older people, and parents of children with vision problems wrote about their experience with the Bates Method and giving up their glasses. Major eye conditions (myopia, farsightedness, astigmatism, presbyopia, blindness, cataract, glaucoma, headaches, strabismus) were discussed by Bates, other ophthalmologists, the medical community, and readers.
The significance of this literature is both historical and immediate. For the first time, the connection between eyestrain to shoulder and neck pain, headaches, and other muscular tension is discussed. Bates explores technical concepts in each issue---including focus, centralization, movement, how light is taken in, the retina, stereoscopic vision, eyestrain, and palming. This material is of utmost value in today's world, when ophthalmology has taken a giant step into surgery, with refractive corneal laser surgeries and other surgical means of eyesight "correction." From a Batesian point of view, these are harmful and risky.
A worthwhile companion to Relearning to See, the Better Eyesight magazine articles of the '20s are a work of prodigious historical scholarship on Quackenbush's part. They show the development of an important educational system which flourishes today, provoking profound questions about vision, hereditary, and current treatment of vision by modern medicine.
For the 14-page, 8.5"x11" Table of Contents, go to Amazon.com-BE, then select Table of Contents.
For a sample selection of Better Eyesight, go to Amazon.com-BE, then select Excerpt.
For the 18-page, 8.5x11" Index, go to Amazon.com-BE, then select Index.
Why Better
Eyesight is a "*Must* *Must*
*Must* Have":
Note: The following comments about Better Eyesight were unsolicited.
A Masterpiece; a "*Must* *Must* *Must* Have"; Five Stars
In my opinion, you *must* *must* *must* have Better Eyesight in your natural vision improvement library. In fact, if you could have one book, in my opinion Better Eyesight is the *one* book to own...a *steal* at Amazon.com....
Better Eyesight is a *MASTERPIECE.* I am giving Mr. Q's compendium of Bates' magazines my highest rating: 5 stars. My second evening reading it has really, really got me enthused over this remarkable compilation. Today I'll be making copies of all the Snellen charts in the back of the book so I can use them both at home and at work.
I see this book was published in 2001. What a remarkable job Mr. Q. did. His comments, interspersed in squared brackets within the articles, are most helpful and give one the comforting feeling that a mentor is looking over one's shoulder offering guidance on subtle points. Bravo! Mr. Q., bravo! If I could only own one book on vision, *this* would be the book....
Five years ago when I first read the (watered down) Bates' book, I didn't really understand it, and I ignored almost everything he advised because it seemed too abstract and irrelevant to me. The Bates magazines are much, much clearer in terms of giving explanations for things....
Thanks to Mr. Q., I am really fired up and enthused about the Bates magazines compendium. Each night as I read more of it, my appreciation of it grows. I really think it is first rate, the seminal, authoritative work on the subject of vision [improvement]....
In my opinion, Mr. Quackenbush's Better Eyesight is more valuable by itself than an entire [alternative] $199 method. Mr. Q's book comes with a wonderful set of Snellen charts. Specifically, Mr. Q's Bates compendium comes with a large Snellen chart (The exact same one that Bates used with his patients) and in addition a small copy of the same Snellen chart. I use this large/small combination of Snellen charts every day.
---Robert, 2see message board, 2see@yahoogroups.comAmazed; Eyesight is Improving; Old Glasses Now Too Strong
I am amazed by how much this book has helped me. Bates' principles really do work! I have only been reading the book for about a month, yet my eyesight is improving. I can't wait until my next eye appointment so I can surprise my ophthamologist (who gave me stronger glasses at my last eye exam— they are now too strong for me to wear!).
---Dougal, Miami Florida, 5-Star Review on Amazon.comIncredible Insights; Timeless Essence; Invaluable Resource; Wonderful Collection
Incredible insights about eyesight. William Bates was a scientist, researcher, visionary, and a rebel. In his magazines are presented a multitude of case histories about his patients. We get to hear the stories of a wide variety of individuals, their temperaments, and what techniques worked for them. The style is dated, but the essence of his teachings are timeless. An invaluable resource in your 'vision' library. It's large, but can be digested in bite-size articles. A wonderful collection.
---S. Alex, 5-Star Review on Amazon.comA "Must Have"
Relearning to See is really a great book, but Better Eyesight is a must have for those who like to know more about the great work of Bates.
---Mauro, internetA Legend in It's Own Right; Priceless; Best Book
Better Eyesight explains the principles of better eyesight and how to improve on it. Relearning to See is great; but it's more of a scientific academic fact kind of book. Better Eyesight is more motivating as it gives case studies and proof that the method works. You can't get this priceless information anywhere else. It is my opinion that Better Eyesight is the best book out there on natural improvement of eyesight. If you have only one book to choose for eyesight, get this one. It's a legend in its own right.
---San Francisco, 5-Star Review on Amazon.comVeritable Compendiums
Relearning to See and Better Eyesight are veritable compendiums!
---Kevin, reviewerUnbelievable Book; Will Revolutionize Medicine
I have your two books: Better Eyesight and Relearning to See. I bought some other books and starting working with their "eye exercises." I made some progress, but the greatest progress was when I got your Better Eyesight magazines book [which teaches correct vision habits]. UNBELIEVABLE BOOK. I thank you for publishing it because it will revolutionize medicine. I gave a copy to my physiology teacher in college. Relearning to See is excellent too, because of the pictures. One can learn what it means to "see incorrectly." I'm interested in the Teacher Training Program.
---May, CaliforniaBlown Away; What a Treasure!
I just received your compilation of the Bates magazines from Amazon.com. I am thrilled to see it, and read a few of the articles today. What a treasure! I stumbled onto the Bates book in 1978. What a dear person he must have been, a very rare mix of compassion and genius and persistence...Bates was a stepping stone for me into a whole different way of thinking which led me many helpful ways...
Though I've heard and believed the saying, "Bates is not about eye exercises," I think I got it a bit more as I read your Introduction to Better Eyesight. I had no idea the Bates magazines existed and am blown away by the care you have poured into the editing, comments, and index.
So, please consider this a high compliment and also my thanks for what you've published. I will get your other book Relearning to See too, before long.
---Greg, Teacher Training Program graduateA Wealth of Information; Breakthrough; Wonderfully Indexed
...Many years passed. My belief and interest in the Bates approach never waned, but I made little progress with improved vision. Finally I had a breakthrough less than two years ago. I did a fresh web search and discovered a lost treasure! Though I had read over twenty books by various Bates teachers, I did not realize that Bates had published a monthly magazine of findings and case studies for over ten years. Thomas Quackenbush had collected this missing link and published it in 2000 as a 700-page book, wonderfully indexed.
...There is quite a wealth of information in Better Eyesight and I would recommend its purchase, as it gives a unique insight into the Bates Method and its origins.
---Eduardo, 2see@yahoogroups.comFinally Progress after Five Failures
I have been practicing the Bates Method with Relearning to See and Better Eyesight: The Complete Magazines of William H. Bates, for only three months now. After five previous attempts, including two courses or "workshops" since 1983, this is the first time that I really noticed some progress in my eyesight and general condition. In two months my eyesight improved from 8% to 20%. I find both your publications enormously helpful.
---Margreet, The NetherlandsOne Simple Statement that Changed Much of My Vision
Now that I'm done with the first quarter of the Better Eyesight complete magazines edited by Thomas Quackenbush, I strongly advice anybody who feels touched by Bates' work to BUY THIS BOOK!
Apart from passing on to the reader the real zest proper to a new born science and its development (just this is a great gift!), you can appreciate very much the infinite nuances of the original method, alive and well spirited.
For example, after so many books I have and many year of interest in this field of the treatment of imperfect sight without glasses, just today I came across one simple statement that changed much of my vision.
---rggn, 2see message board, 2see@yahoogroups.comSuperb Edition; Wonderful Contribution
Thanks for your wonderful contribution in publishing your superb edition of Better Eyesight and your years of dedication to improving vision and health. We met after your excellent presentation on your use of the Bates Method....I reminded you that about a dozen years ago or so, I had encouraged my wife Joan to attend a series of your Natural Eyesight Improvement classes. She still does not need glasses, thank God.
---John, emailA Phonebook! Easy to Read
I just got your Better Eyesight compilation and have read the first few magazines. I was initially shocked by the size of this compilation: it is a phone book! However, I am pleased to realize that it is an easy read. It is obvious that Bates wrote it for the general public. For me, the
original Perfect Sight Without Glasses has never been a page turner, while the condensed, modern version was not easily comprehensible because of a lack of explanations. The Better Eyesight compilation is much more accessible.
Congratulations and thanks for this work.
---Bernard, 2see message board, 2see@yahoogroups.comMajor Research Milestone
Quackenbush is (also) responsible for editing and publishing in one volume all of Bates' Better Eyesight magazine run, Better Eyesight: The Complete Magazines of William H. Bates, a major research milestone that allows Bates to speak in detail to us about his method.
Relearning to See is Tom Quackenbush's magnum opus on vision. Quackenbush is perhaps our most informed expositor of the Bates Method. His book, Relearning to See, is a updated statement of the major principles and practices of Bates' approach to natural vision improvement.
I feel warm gratitude to the earlier generations of vision pioneers (William Bates, Margaret Corbett, Aldous Huxley...) and a deep respect for these pioneers' successors: the current generation of such brilliant paradigm shifters, such as...Tom Quackenbush...and the late Janet Goodrich. Our generation is enjoying a renaissance of growing-edge mind-body-spirit approaches...
---John Cody, Growing EdgeAmazing Resource
I have been really amazed by Better Eyesight. I can just imagine that this is a resource you wish you had when you started teaching. Would you be willing to sign my books?
---Natalie, Teacher Training GraduateSuitably Impressed
I have purchased two of your books, Relearning to See and Better Eyesight. I must tell you I was suitably impressed with your illumination and clarification of Bates', shall we say opaque writing style.
---Quincy H., emailPriceless Legacy
Priceless Legacy---In his introduction the author refers to the contents of the Better Eyesight magazines as a treasure chest. Actually this compilation is priceless! It is chock-full of absorbing information---articles by Dr. Bates, case studies and many testimonials from people of all ages and all walks of life---covering supposedly irreversible conditions such as nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism, cataracts, glaucoma and many more. If you are not amazed by what you read in at least one case history, then you'd better have someone check you for a pulse. The book also confirms that Dr. Bates' teachings had nothing to do with eye aerobics and everything to do with relearning how to RELAX the mind and the eyes for better vision and improved overall health.
Even though I'm not a novice at natural vision improvement (see Relearning to See review), this book has greatly inspired me. The moment I began reading Better Eyesight, it was like stepping back in time to get personal advice from Dr. Bates in his clinic. It was also uncanny to read many unique observations so similar to my eye re-education experiences. I'm on the homeward stretch of my 20/20 goal (or keener!) and Better Eyesight has bolstered my motivation. It's helped remind me to quickly recognize and correct myself when I lapse into poor vision habits and my progress has surged.
Dr. Bates humbly stated that he had no external cure to improve eyesight. It was nature's way of healing and he cited cases where people improved their vision with no knowledge of his teachings. (I know of two adults who hated their prescribed glasses as kids, quit wearing them, and their sight returned to normal.) However Dr. Bates found that most people, especially those who'd worn lenses for any length of time, needed to relearn the relaxed use of their eyes to have any chance of reversing locked-in strain and blur.
Dr. Bates appeared to have high scientific principles, yet knew the limitations of science and the dangers of submissive adherence to authoritative dogma. He once believed the orthodox teachings and it took him many years to reconcile their errors to his satisfaction. His findings were well documented and published in the medical journals and scientific literature of the day and apparently went unchallenged. Instead Dr. Bates was ostracized and ridiculed in such a bigoted and arrogant manner. He seemed to take it all in stride with a sense of humor by interspersing his wit in many articles squarely aimed at the nay-sayers.
Better Eyesight also gives glimpses of Dr. Bates beyond the eye clinic. His ethics, values and philosophy towards industrialization, mass-education and modern medicine closely parallel views of more contemporary social critics such as author Ivan Illich. In Limits to Medicine--- Medical Nemesis, Illich provides a definition from a medical dictionary of iatrogenic conditions or disorders. In essence, they are those caused by medical intervention. Progressive myopia has to be the granddaddy of all iatrogenic disorders, not the genetic disorder falsely invented [but due to full-powered prescription lenses.]
Another interesting facet of Dr. Bates was his discovery of adrenaline, now a household word when we hear overpaid professional athletes on TV talk about their adrenaline rush. Yet sadly the benevolent work of improving vision naturally for which Dr. Bates dedicated his life is so little known and has been so grossly maligned. Thankfully his teaching methods and writings were preserved and have been edited and annotated by the author in this legacy. Hopefully it will help set the record straight and give Dr. Bates more widespread recognition that's long overdue.
Maybe some future day when these teachings become mainstream principles, a museum will house a chamber of horrors displaying artifacts of the iatrogenic era. Animated lifelike figures in a "Blind Faith" section could depict people straining to see through coke-bottle glasses, poking bloodshot eyes to insert contact lenses and having corneas burned by lasers. Aghast parents will be at a loss to explain to their children how so many people willingly paid to be maltreated in the name of progress.
I consider Relearning to See and Better Eyesight: The Complete Magazines of William H. Bates to be the best books on the Bates Method and Natural Eyesight Improvement. The depth and breadth of your experience, as an author and instructor who has a solid understanding of Bates, is second to none.
---Doug, Canada, Amazon.com 5-Star Review, and emailsA Revelation; Extremely Informative
I want to recommend Tom Quackenbush's compilation of the 11 years of Better Eyesight magazines. This is far and away the very best book I have ever read about the Bates Method.
It is a very big book, the size of a college textbook, and it is some 708 pages long. It contains hundreds and hundreds of case histories, many of them deeply moving, all of them extremely informative as to the actual methods used by Dr. Bates and Emily Lierman, and some of them quite funny.
This book has been a revelation to me. I never really understood the Bates Method. Even though I had, back in 1950, six lessons from Dr. Harold Peppard, the man who took over Dr. Bates' practice, I came away from them without a clue as to what it was all about...
Getting back to the book: Anyone interested in natural vision improvement should have this book. It is more than worth the price. I have, by the way, no connection with Tom Quackenbush except for my gratitude to him for making this compilation available....
The Better Eyesight volume has been a revelation to me. So that's how he and (his wife) Emily did it! Now I can try out the Bates Method the way Bates and Emily employed it.
---Tom1, internetA Treasure
I would recommend getting the book Better Eyesight edited by Thomas Quackenbush. It has just about everything Bates ever taught in it. It is a treasure that everyone trying to improve their sight should have.
I also have been wearing lenses since the 2nd grade, and have been practicing NEI for several months now, and have seen some really good results. I get flashes of clear vision very often now and my overall vision has improved. I try to wear my glasses as little as possible, and I also wear a reduced prescription [discussed in Relearning to See] when I do wear them.
---Jason, internetA Priceless Work!
Better Eyesight is a priceless work. Reading about so many successful case histories established for me that it is a reality to be able to see clearly again, and not just a pipe dream.
---Richard, letterA Monumental Gem; Wow
I just received my copy of Better Eyesight magazines. Wow, lots of tips and clarifications on shifting and swinging, which make sense. Once again, thanks to Tom for the editorial work, which is nothing less than monumental for bringing us this gem. Maybe one day Bates' work will be required reading material for any eye doctor...I like the Stories from the Clinic; they are very inspirational.
---Claude D., 2see@yahoogroups.com
If You Want Rapid Progress
I think it is very difficult to learn his method just from Bates' book. It is too easy to read that book and not truly understand anything. I know I read it and never understood it at all. A much better approach is getting Better Eyesight, the compilation of the eleven years of his magazines. If you read enough case histories, you have a better change of understanding his method.
It is not a collection of exercises. If you want to make rapid progress, you have a better chance if you come to a real understanding of his method.
---Tom1, 2see@yahoogroups.com
A Magnificent Gift; Revelations Astounding
Your edition of the Better Eyesight magazines is a magnificent gift to us...having made this extraordinary series of articles available...it was worth it to me to read every sentence carefully because you never know when Bates is going to say something just a little differently and so clarify or open up your understanding further. As one gets to the middle of the volume and beyond, it becomes richer and richer as Bates deepens and proliferates new ways of explaining phenomena. The revelations start coming pretty fast and astounding.
---Justine, 2see@yahoogroups.com
As Bates was Meant to be Understood; Enormously Helpful Index
If it were not for Relearning to See and Tom's other book, Better Eyesight, I might never have understood the Bates Method as it is meant to be understood...Tom has added an enormously helpful keyword index in the back...I have used it countless times.
---David Kiesling, Five star review on Amazon.com
Better than Courses Costing Many Times as Much
I've seen any number of recommendations for the book Better Eyesight by Thomas
Quackenbush. As I understand it, this is a compilation of some of Bates' original writings, and I've seen at least a few comments on the Web that the guidance within it has served some folks better than courses costing many times as much.
---Todd, internet message
I Finally Understand Bates' Material
I have both of your books and I can now finally understand Bates' material.
---Kory, Missouri
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