Foreword to the First Edition

One of the great joys and honors in my life was my frequent visits to India and my meetings with great clinicians, surgeons, teachers and human beings of the Indian ophthalmological community…among them, the wonderful Agarwal family of Chennai. So I am very much honored by their request to write a Foreword to the new book edited and written by them and by other superb surgeons and teachers such as Keiki R Mehta, Mahipal Singh Sachdev, Kenneth J Hoffer, I Howard Fine and all the other internationally known and respected teachers and experts. The table of contents, both concerning the titles of the chapters and the authors, speaks for itself. Some of the world’s greatest authorities on the subject, speaking from both scientific and clinical experience, are gracing this book. Every aspect of modern successful cataract surgery is covered, so the book will be extremely useful—not only for the beginners, but also for the accomplished surgeons who need to look at some different points of views and approaches to surgery or for information. The worldwide brotherhood of ophthalmic surgeons, researchers and teachers is deeply and greatly indebted to the editors of the book who assembled the panel and chose the topics and to the writers of the chapters who devoted their time and knowledge to this undertaking. I congratulate and thank the authors and wish them God’s blessings.

John J Alpar MD FACS Clinical Professor at Texas Tech University Honorary Member of All India Ophthalmological Society

Preface to the Third Edition

A lot of toil, blood, tears, and sweat has been poured through these pages from so many authors working in so many countries serving so many people. This two volume book on cataract surgery in its most advanced fashion, is an attempt to spread knowledge and letting you know that each one of us believes a much greater force has helped us compile this into fruition.

We may have claimed many a research project, however each one who has done any research knows fully well and can hear fully well that inner voice calling out. Every time we write whether it is for our own gratification or towards a more sublime learning and teaching once again whether we want to accept it or not we know that it is something else that makes us do these things. It is something far more powerful than we can ever imagine that guides our thinking, our hands, our profession or whatever direction the guide wants us to. And yet there is a choice of free will given to all of us. And yet we choose to burn the midnight oil, we choose to forsake sensual pleasures in a quest of that something that gives us much more peace and understanding of the world, much more joy than owning all the gold in Fort Knox would ever give us.

Here my dear friends is where we are today to say Thank You to the world to the Cosmos to everyone of you who read this and to those who benefit through your reading because this may just be a small drop in the ocean of knowledge, yet it is a small drop in the right direction. In the spirit of serving the human race and all who come after us our attempt is to give them a springboard where they can take off where we have left off.

Editors