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 Famous Ophthalmic Workers

Some famous and some not so famous.
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Jacques Daviel is a ophthalmic surgeon in the 18th century who developed new techniques for the extraction of cataract and had
published extensively on the subject.

Albrecht von Graefe, famous German ophthamologist is one of the pioneer of modern ophthalmology. For more information visit Doyne's Hall of Fame for more information.

Stamps commemorate the 3rd Mediterranean Day on Rheumatology 
and 9th Congress of the International Society of Geographic 
Ophthalmology featuring Prof. Hulusi Behcet.

Behçet's disease or syndrome (Hulusi Behçet, Turkish dermatologist, 
1889-1948): A multi-system disease of unknown cause, seen 
particularly in young males, characterized by mucous membrane 
ulceration, iridocyclitis with hypopyon, recurrent pyoderma, arthralgia, 
thrombophlebitis and neurologic abnormalities.


 

Carl Zeiss is a well-known German instrument maker. He designed a number of ophthalmic instruments which are still in use nowadays.

 


In 1850, Hermann von Helmholtz (1821-1894) inaugurated the modern era in ophthalmology with his invention of the ophthalmoscope, which has done more to revolutionize the development of ophthalmology than any other invention or discovery. Before Helmholtz's invention, it was not possible to visualize the posterior pole of the eye in a living subject. 

The ophthalmoscope permitted the clinical correlation of signs and symptoms with findings in the retina, vitreous, and optic nerve. The ophthalmoscope became the model for all forms of endoscopy that followed. It is often compared in importance with 2 earlier inventions, the telescope (17th century) and the stethoscope (early 19th century). All of these instruments made dramatic new information available to the human mind.

- from Archie of Ophthalmology -


 

David Hubel, USA and Torsten Wiesel, Sweden, got the 1981 Nobel Prize for their work on the information processing in the system of vision.

 

Abu Ali al'hasan ibn al'Haitam is known in the West as Alhazen, born in 965 in Persia and died in 1039 in Egypt. He is called the Father of Optics for his writings on and experiments with lenses, mirrors, refraction and reflection. He correctly stated that vision results from light that is reflected into the eye by an object, not emitted by the eye itself and then reflected back, as Aristotle believed. He solved the problem of finding the locus of points on a spherical mirror rom which light will be reflected to an observer. From his studies of refraction he determined that the atmosphere has definite height, and that twilight is caused by refraction of solar radiation from beneath the horizon. 

 

I. Barraquer 1884-1965. The web site where this stamp came from was in Spanish. I wonder if he was related to the LASIK pioneer?


Widely regarded as the father of the physics of light and optic. Issac Newton had contributed greatly to our understandings of light and colours.

 

Percy Lavon Julian (11th April 1899 - 19th April, 1975 ) synthesized physostigmine for treatment of glaucoma and cortisone for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. His other inventions included a fire-extinguishing foam for gasoline and oil fires. 

Born in Montgomery, Alabama, the grandson of a former slave, Julian had limited schooling because Montgomery provided no public education for blacks after the eighth grade. He entered DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, as a 'sub-freshman' and, though ill-prepared, graduated in 1920 as class valedictorian with Phi Beta Kappa honours. Advised against pursuing a graduate education because of his race, Julian went to Fisk University to teach chemistry. In 1923, with an Austin Fellowship in Chemistry, he earned a master's degree from Harvard University.

After teaching at West Virginia State College and Howard University, Julian received his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of Vienna in 1931. He returned to DePauw University, where his international reputation was established in 1935 by synthesizing physostigmine, a drug treatment for glaucoma, from the calabar bean.

Despite scientific acclaim, DePauw University denied him a professorship because of his race. During the next 17 years, Julian was director of research at the Glidden Company, a paint and varnish manufacturer. He developed a commercial process for isolating and preparing soya bean protein, which could be used to coat and size paper, to create cold water paints, and to size textiles. During World War II Julian used soya protein to produce 'AeroFoam'-a substance that suffocates gasoline and oil fires.

Julian went on to synthesize the female and male hormones, progesterone and testosterone, by extracting sterols from soybean oil. He was noted most for his synthesis of cortisone, used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory conditions. His synthesis reduced the price of cortisone from hundreds of dollars per drop for natural cortisone to a few cents per gram.

- from San Francisco Society of Ophthalmology - 


 

ALLVAR GULLSTRAND (1862--1930), picture on the right, was professor of physiological and physical optics at the University of Uppsala: the Nobel Prize winner in Physiology or Medicine "for his work on the dioptrics of the eye." 

 

Fred Hollows.
Born in NewZealand, but lived in Australia. He was a famous 
Eye Surgeon of Sydney Hospital. He believed in equality and 
founded total ophthalmic care services for the Aborigines. He 
was known as "Wild Colonial Boy". He established  eye 
centres in Nepal and Africa for the poor. FredHollows Eye 
Foundation was established in his name. The main work is to 
manufacture Quality IOL in low price. The Fred Hollows IOL 
Lab.
More ophthalmic stamps