The Eye: Window to Body and Soul

About the Book

The most feared loss of function during life is the loss of sight. Thus, the prevention of blindness is of greatest importance to humankind. This is the task of the ophthalmologist and is the subject of this book.

About the Author

Dr. van Heuven was educated at Yale, New York Medical College and Harvard, finishing with a fellowship in retinal diseases and surgery. He then joined the faculty at Albany Medical College in New York, where he helped establish a new residency training program. Fourteen years later he became chairman of Ophthalmology at the University of Texas in San Antonio where he reshaped the training program, balanced between clinical care, research and teaching. During that time, he authored multiple scientific papers and co-authored/edited two consecutive volumes of a textbook entitled, “Decision Making in Ophthalmology.” He also co-authored a history book about the development of ophthalmology in South Texas, entitled “People of Vision.” He retired in 2009 and moved to Vermont, where he joined the faculty of the University of Vermont to practice part-time another five years, completing a half-century of ophthalmic practice. Memories of those fifty years comprise the contents of this book.