50 Years of Perception

Perception has reached a significant milestone with the recent publication of its 50th volume. This may seem like a modest achievement when compared with Nature, first published in 1869, but it is a great achievement for this journal, the brainchild of one man, Richard Gregory; the chief editor of Perception until his death in 2010. For the first 40 years the journal was published by Pion Press, owned by Richard's longtime friend Adam Gelbtuch. This was the perfect partnership—Adam had a reputation for very high-quality publications and Richard clearly saw the need for high-quality images in his journal. Adam Gelbtuch was a fascinating character. A wonderful obituary, written by Priscilla Heard, appeared in Perception in 2014.

In the first issue of Perception, published in March 1972, Richard Gregory wrote:

This new journal is aimed at presenting original research over the entire field of perception, which will be regarded as a science in its own right. The problems of how we know the world through sensory experience has excited speculation for millennia—as problems of perception have always been central in philosophical debate—and they have inspired crucial experiments in physiology, psychology, and in other sciences for over a century. So many philosophies and experimental techniques are involved that it is difficult to relate what is known, or see what is important. The aim of this journal is to offer space for papers on all aspects of perceptual research, from experiment to philosophy, treating perception as broadly and as deeply as possible. (Page 1–2)

Richard Gregory ended his first editorial with: “Editorials are not important. This one for the first issue is needed as a rocket needs an initial boost, to set it on a course which may be later corrected. The Editor hopes that this rocket will be ballistic, with a trajectory requiring few corrections and less comment: the Editor should not be seen or heard if he is sufficiently perceptive.”

True to his word the second issue had no editorial but by the third issue they were back, along with a cartoon from Punch. Gregory ended the editorial with “We make no apologies for our joke page. Contributions are welcome. An article on the perception of humour might be of great interest.”

An interesting consideration is whether we would now regard a paper on the perception of humour as being “out of remit”. Indeed, maybe after 50 years this might be a very good time to reflect on where the journal is positioning itself and to what extent we are holding true to Richard Gregory's founding principles. To do this, we know that editorials are important, well read, and therefore a good way to reflect on the past, present, and future of Perception. With that said, for the upcoming year you can expect editorials from the editors-in-chief that look back to the past and forward to the future.

However, we need your help! Several of those involved in the early days of the journal have died, some at an admirable age, like Richard Gregory and others far too early, for example Olivier Braddick and of course the remarkable Tom Troscianko. The good news is that many of our contributors, even those in the initial years, are still active. We are currently in the process of approaching our colleagues to share some of their stories but also hope that others will spontaneously approach us with some good stories, anecdotes, but also ideas for the future.

Apart from the forthcoming contributions by the editors-in-chief, we would like to see editorials written by members of the Editorial Board. We also welcome guest editorials which can be written by anyone. We hope these will return to the broader scope that characterized the Gregory editorials. Early on, Gregory mused about skills involved in driving a car, describing seeing a solar eclipse with David Hubel, questioning why we don't have IQ tests for animals, asking what the variance is if a box of matches claims to have “average contents 40”, and of course about seeing jokes.

We also want to engage in more serious aspects of establishing and maintaining a journal. The formative years, the years of coming to age, the change in topics that were covered by Perception (like the loss of physiology, and the advent of new techniques and topics). As well as what we all think about the future of Perception in the new reality where open access is likely to rule.

If we have not approached you, and you would like to contribute, please contact one of the editors-in-chief.