There are encyclopedic reference books available in many sub-specialty areas of eye care, including pediatric ophthalmology. These large texts are most valuable when a clinician needs to quickly find a differential diagnosis, a list of treatment options, or the findings to look for when a particular syndrome is suspected.

With Pediatric Ophthalmology: Current Thought and a Practical Guide, we have not attempted to match the breadth of those exhaustive reference texts. Instead, we bring to the pediatric-oriented ophthalmologists a book they will want to read cover-tocover.

We strived for enough depth and perspective in each chapter so that the book could be considered core reading for trainees and practitioners alike.

When I first met with Marion Philipp, Senior Editor at Springer, to discuss this project, I told her that this book would be the most well-read book in the pediatric ophthalmology field because each chapter would be written by a respected thoughtleader who could give a concise overview of the most current thought and practice recommendations for that subject.

Basic Ophthalmology is designed to help the user obtain an appropriate ocular history and learn the examination techniques for a complete eye evaluation.

From the history and clinical findings the reader should be able to diagnose and manage or refer common ocular disorders. The history of this textbook began in 1975 with the publication by the American Academy of Ophthalmology of a study guide in outline form for medical students.

The book’s developers identified seven common problem areas in ophthalmology and developed study objectives. Each subsequent edition was changed based on suggestions from users.

The fifth edition, which was developed by the joint committee of the Amer­ican Academy of Ophthalmology and the Association of University Professors of Ophthalmology, abandoned the outline form for chapters with expository text.

The sixth edition, published in 1993, was one of the American Academy of Ophthalmology's most popular clinical education products...