Table of Contents

1 The face: organ of communication; 2 Light, colour, and shape: the science of vision; 3 Physical differences between faces: age, sex and race; 4 The mating game: attractiveness and the sociobiology of faces; 5 Whose face is it? How individual faces are recognized; 6 Messages from the face: lip-reading, gaze, and expression; 7 In the brain of the beholder: the neuroscience of face perception.

Reviews

Art and science join hands in this beautifully illustrated book on the subject of human facial perception. Bruce (psychology, Univ. of Stirling) and Young (applied psychology, Cambridge Univ.) describe the neurological processes that occur as we look at a face and suggest reasons for the almost universal reaction to beauty and certain features of facial "personality." Written to accompany a recent exhibition at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, the book successfully illustrates psychological and neurological processes with pieces from the show. While emphasizing research in psychology, the authors also include relevant discoveries in the fields of medicine, biology, and engineering. Daniel McNeill's The Face (Little, Brown, 1998) covers similar ground in a slightly more engaging, accessible manner‘though without the extensive and effective use of illustration found here. Both books are recommended for their organization, clarity of text, and unusual insight into human behavior.‘Laurie Bartolini, Illinois State Lib., Springfield