Volume 2 — Dictionary of Perspective

An authoritative interdisciplinary reference to the terminology, forms, systems and applications of perspective.

Dictionary of Perspective is the first comprehensive dictionary and taxonomy of visual, optical and technical perspective. It contains more than 4,000 terms, including approximately 1,200 identified types and forms, and extends across art, optics, geometry, photography, cinema, architecture, computer graphics, virtual reality, artificial intelligence and visual perception.

More than a conventional dictionary, it functions as an encyclopaedic reference, taxonomy and conceptual map of the field. Across more than 350,000 words, it brings together terminology, theories, methods, instruments, classifications, visual phenomena and applications previously dispersed across many disciplines.

The second edition adds an introduction to Perspective Category Theory, a summary framework, an applications table and a substantial subject index. It also presents more than 200 concepts, classifications and distinctions originated, named, refined or formalised by Alan Stuart Radley.

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Volume 2

SECOND EDITION

Dictionary of Perspective

The first comprehensive dictionary and taxonomy of visual, optical and technical perspective.

About This Volume

A specialist reference for artists, architects, designers, photographers, filmmakers, educators, researchers, students, CGI specialists and visual thinkers.

More than five years in development, the Dictionary records established, uncommon, historical, conflicting, new and refined terminology. Drawing on more than thirty years of research, it identifies errors, clarifies disputed meanings and organises the wider field through Perspective Category Theory.

What Makes the Dictionary Distinctive

• More than 4,000 terms and approximately 1,200 perspective types and forms
• More than 350,000 words across 590 large-format pages
• The first comprehensive dictionary and taxonomy of visual, optical and technical perspective
• A specialist dictionary, encyclopaedic reference, taxonomy and theoretical map
• More than 200 concepts, classifications and distinctions originated, named, refined or formalised by Alan Stuart Radley
• Analysis of errors, inconsistencies and previously unexplained perspective phenomena

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Perspective Category Theory

The second edition begins with an introduction to Perspective Category Theory, an organising framework that distinguishes the categories, classes, types and forms of perspective and relates them to their methods, processes, functions, goals and outcomes.

It explains how perspective may operate through natural, visual, optical, mathematical, graphical, instrument-based, simulated and New Media processes. It also distinguishes the two principal directional classes of perspective—viewing or imaging, and projecting—and explains how several categories or classes may operate together or in sequence.

A summary table near the end of the book provides rapid access to the framework, while an applications table shows how perspective operates across numerous disciplines and practical fields.

What the Dictionary Covers

The dictionary includes:

• natural, visual and optical perspective;
• mathematical and graphical perspective;
• instrument, simulated and New Media perspective;
• projection methods, image forms and spatial representations;
• depth, scale, size, shape, position, viewpoint and field of view;
• perspective phenomena, visual effects and optical transformations;
• cameras, lenses, mirrors, projectors and other imaging instruments;
• drawing, painting, architecture and design;
• photography, cinema, cinematography and visual effects;
• animation, video games, CGI and digital imaging;
• virtual, augmented, mixed and extended reality;
• artificial-intelligence imaging and computer vision;
• scientific imaging, engineering, cartography and visualisation;
• historical, uncommon, obsolete, contemporary and newly developed terminology.

It draws on the wider research resources of the Perspective Research Centre, including the Bibliography of Perspective, the Library of Perspective, and the Encyclopedia of Perspective.

The Complete Three-Volume Set

The first three volumes of The Art and Science of Perspective provide complementary approaches to the field:

Volume 1 — The Past, Present and Future of Visual and Optical Perspective
A wide-ranging introduction to the history, theory, applications and future possibilities of perspective.

Volume 2 — Dictionary of Perspective
A comprehensive specialist dictionary and taxonomy containing more than 4,000 terms and approximately 1,200 perspective types and forms.

Volume 3 — Natural and Visual Perspective
A detailed investigation of how physical space becomes natural appearance and how natural appearance becomes human visual experience.

Together, the three books provide a foundational reference for understanding visual and optical perspective across art, geometry, optics, architecture, photography, imaging and visual perception.