Retinal Development, edited by E. Sernagor, S. Eglen, W. Harris, and R. Wong. 2006. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Fairly regularly some member of my lab, finding a new feature of retinal circuitry, wonders aloud if it might “somehow relate to development.” I always reply, “We don't study development.” This partly reflects my curmudgeonly insistence that we stay focused on explaining function in the adult. But even if the discovery did relate to development, the connection would be too difficult to find—because the large territory has lacked any useful guide. Next time, however, I will hand over my copy of Retinal Development and reply more kindly, “Check it out.”