This book is intended to be an aid to all who are concerned with assessing vision and handling day-to-day problems during the growth of infants and children. It is directed mainly to com­ munity doctors, health visitors, school nurses, general practitioners, paediatricians and teachers. Members of all these groups have expressed to the author their ignorance and indeed fear of visual problems resulting either in nonchalance or over-anxiety based on the traditional misinformation which most of us have about our eyesight. It is particularly important that nurses and teachers should be able to identify and scale the severity or otherwise of any visual problem. The book is not primarily one of theory nor does it make any pretence of being weighty or encyclopaedic. It is hoped that it will be of use in conjunction with training courses. Those who wish to go deeper will be helped by the references to further reading. It is inevitable that technical jargon should creep in, but this has been resisted where possible and a glossary has been provided in the hope that anyone interested in children's eyesight will find the book readable. May 1981 P. A. Gardiner Guy's Hospital 7 7 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to record my thanks to the band of illustrators.