Trends in European visual science: 1978-1997

European visual science during the past 20 years--with the glaring exception of ophthalmological research--is reflected in the annual programmes of the European Conference on Visual Perception. The number of countries that have participated has increased with time, and the spectrum of topics that have been presented has broadened. The number of multiple-author papers has increased dramatically, as has the number of papers by authors from different institutions and different countries.