Perfect Sight Without Glasses

by W.H. Bates, M.D.

This is a reproduction of Dr. Bates's original 1920 book. It should not be confused with Better Eyesight Without Glasses, an abridged edition published in 1943, twelve years after Bates's death. That edition is more widely available, but it excludes large portions of the text and all pictures.

The book's copyright expired in 1948. It is now in the public domain.

http://www.iblindness.org/books/perfect-sight-without-glasses/

The Bates method is an alternative therapy aimed at improving eyesight. Eye-care physician William Horatio Bates (1860–1931) attributed nearly all sight problems to habitual strain of the eyes, and felt that glasses were harmful and never necessary. Bates self-published a book as well as a magazine (and earlier collaborated with Bernarr MacFadden on a correspondence course) detailing his approach to helping people relax such strain, and thus, he claimed, improve their sight. His techniques centered around visualization and movement. He placed particular emphasis on imagining black letters and marks, and the movement of such. He also felt that exposing the eyes to sunlight would help alleviate eyestrain.

Although many of Bates' patients and followers of his methods have reported of successful results, (most famously from author Aldous Huxley), his methods have garnered much opposition from mainstream optometry. Bates was disbarred from the American Optometric Association because his techniques had not been shown objectively to improve eyesight. Despite this, some behavioral optometrists and visual therapists continue to employ methods developed by Bates.

tibetan eye chart