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the UK, many countries have honoured their eminent ophthalmologists on
stamps (Gonin of
Switzerland, von Graefe and von Helmholtz of Germany and Barraquer of Spain). Of the famous UK ophthalmologists, Harold Ridley should deserve such honour than most. Harold Ridley (1907-2001) was an intraocular lens (IOL) pioneer. He implanted the first intraocular implant made from PMMA in 1949, after observing that World War II Royal Air Force flighter could tolerate shards of plastic aircraft canopies in their eyes. Nonetheless, his work was initially rejected by most of the ophthalmic community, forcing him to spend years fighting for acceptance. Since his pioneering work, more than 200 millions cataract patients have received intraocular implants.
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