Eyesight

The only sense we

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The only sense we still respect is eyesight, probably because it is so closely attached to the brain. Go into any American house at random, you will find something – a plastic flower, false tiles, some imitation something – something which can be appreciated as material only if apprehended by eyesight alone. Don’t we go … Read more

Gertrude Jekyll, like Monet,

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Gertrude Jekyll, like Monet, was a painter with poor eyesight, and their gardens – his at Giverny in the Seine valley, hers in Surrey – had resemblance’s that may have sprung from this condition. Both loved plants that foamed and frothed over walls and pergolas, spread in tides beneath trees; both saw flowers in islands … Read more

Other anatomical changes associated

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Other anatomical changes associated with long-duration space flight are definitely negative: the immune system weakens, the heart shrinks because it doesn’t have to strain against gravity, eyesight tends to degrade, sometimes markedly (no one’s exactly sure why yet). The spine lengthens as the little sacs of fluid between the vertebrae expand, and bone mass decreases … Read more

I am shortsighted. I

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I am shortsighted. I need glasses for watching movies or concerts. It’s not a hipster affectation; I do have poor eyesight. This is how ridiculous my life is: I’ve had the test for contact lenses, but I haven’t found a half-day where I can go to the optician. Benedict Cumberbatch