More about the Bates Method
Peter Mansfield in his book “The Bates Method” (1998) introduced Dr Bates this way. The primary tool of Dr. Bates research was the retinoscope, an instrument of elegant simplicity, which allows direct assessment of refraction of the eye. The instrument was coming into regular clinical use while Bates was a student. He was intrigued by the possibilities of this new tool and made it his specialty. Bates was particularly interested in observing animals, children and adults, in normal activity in daylight, as opposed to the artifi- cial surroundings of the consulting room. As his observations continued he began to suspect, then became certain, that the eyes of people seeing normally behaved differently from those who saw abnormally. Further more, whether the vision was on the whole normal or not, the refraction of the eye was constantly changing. Bates then realised that the changes reflected, among other things, the state of mind of the subjects, so the vision would always be n...