History of Medicine: Part 19: Vision Care

In Paleolithic times, people died of all kinds of conditions that are preventable today. Infected wounds without antibiotics. Tooth infections without extractions. People dying from viruses without knowing about micro-biology. Lastly, blind and vision impaired people who relied on others to survive. Unable to fend for themselves, they didn't stray far from camp.

Gems and crystals were the first visual aids. People with bad eyes would used to bend light and see better. During ancient times, clear stones were used as "reading stones". These stones were held up to the eyes like a modern magnifying glass without a handle.

This glass was eventually mounted on frames that could rest on the nose. The first people do so were Italians in the year 1300. The first glasses shop was opened in Strasbourg, modern day France in 1466. However, for 400 years, these glasses would abruptly fall off your nose with too much movement. In 18th century England, a new design was invented that rested upon your ears. 

Vision problems fall into two basic categories, an inability to see far and the inability to see close up. Different glasses were needed for each of these. Galileo used one of these glasses to look far away. And Van Leeuwenhoek used the other type of glass to discover microorganisms. In the past, people who struggled with both often had separate glasses, one for up close and one pair for far away. It was Benjamin Franklin who figured out there was a way to put them both together into the "bifocals" we have today. 

In the late 19th century, a German tried making glass lenses that could be placed under the eyelids and directly on the eye. They were made of solid glass and could only be worn for an hour at a time. It wasn't until the 1960's that modern soft contact lenses were developed. In the 1970's they went on sale. In the 1990's, new silicon contact lenses were more comfortable and allowed more oxygen to pass through. 

In the 21st century, we've invented sun sensitive self tinting glasses, laser corrective eye surgery and scientists are even working on a bionic eye ball that sends information to implants within the brain. 

https://youtu.be/XPDVmBg5DeE

Louis Braille 

What could a fifteen year old blind boy do to improve the world? 

Book: Louis Braille

https://youtu.be/cyfxQ6sdaIE

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