Perspectives on the Face

Our faces play essential roles in defining us as individuals. They are the most immediately identifiable parts of our bodies. We use our faces to communicate emotions and to interact socially. Sometimes, despite our intentions, our faces reveal our thoughts even when we do not speak. In several medical conditions, the facial aspect confirms diagnosis, and while surgical alteration of craniofacial anomalies can do much to normalize appearance, patients are always confronted with the question of what is normal, and with the fact that beauty itself may be nothing more than a culturally determined concept.

This book explores a range of distinct yet related perspectives on the face--the evolutionary, the developmental, the anatomic, the dysmorphic and genetic, the surgical, the psychological; the sociocultural, and the artistic. As a cross-disciplinary study, it is the first to comprehensively address the question of what constitutes a face, and to span the gap between symbolic interpretation and scientific fact. Both broadly informative and in-depth in its discussions, this highly readable book will be of interest to biologists, geneticists, plastic surgeons, craniofacial surgeons, oral and maxillofacial surgeons, psychologists, sociologists, anthropologists, and others with a special interest in the face.