Volume VII, Part 6 brings to a conclusion the Handbook of Sensory
Physiology, the publication of which has spanned 9 years. In the General
Preface of Volume I it was stated that: "The purpose of this handbook is
not encyclopedic completeness, nor the sort of brief summaries provided
by periodic annual reviews. " The Editorial Board and the editors hope
that this golden mean has been achieved: An absorbing, thorough, but
nevertheless exemplary presentation should, with the aid of relevant
examples, enable the reader to become accustomed with the numerous
facets of the sensory system without sacrificing an overview of the
subject. The main issues of sensory physiology were formulated in the
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by JOHANNES MULLER, H. VON
HELMHOLTZ, E. HERING, S. EXNER, 1. VON KRIES, W. TRENDELENBURG, and E.
D. ADRIAN, to name but a few. Modern development in the field has been
characterized by interdisciplinary cooperation, the foundation for which
was laid in the second half of the nineteenth century by VON HELMHOLTZ,
EXNER, MAXWELL, and others. Progress made in bio- chemistry, physics,
mathematics, and information theory has not only made pos- sible
unanticipated refinement of methods of measurement; it has above all
per- mitted the transformation of mere hypotheses into established,
accepted theories as well as revealing new problems. However, at the
same time such development has, in recent decades, resulted in the
literature becoming dispersed in specialist journals; consequently, it
has grown increasingly difficult to survey.