Editing Ophthalmology (section)

==History==
===Ancient near east and the Greek period===
In the [[Ebers Papyrus]] from ancient Egypt dating to 1550 BC, a section is devoted to eye diseases.<ref name="mrcophth" />

Prior to [[Hippocrates]], physicians largely based their anatomical conceptions of the eye on speculation, rather than [[empiricism]].<ref name="mrcophth" /> They recognized the sclera and transparent cornea running flushly as the outer coating of the eye, with an inner layer with pupil, and a fluid at the centre. It was believed, by [[Alcamaeon]] (fifth century BC) and others, that this fluid was the medium of vision and flowed from the eye to the brain by a tube. [[Aristotle]] advanced such ideas with empiricism. He dissected the eyes of animals, and discovering three layers (not two), found that the fluid was of a constant consistency with the lens forming (or congealing) after death, and the surrounding layers were seen to be juxtaposed. He and his contemporaries further put forth the existence of three tubes leading from the eye, not one. One tube from each eye met within the skull.

The Greek physician [[Rufus of Ephesus]] (first century AD) recognised a more modern concept of the eye, with [[conjunctiva]], extending as a fourth epithelial layer over the eye.<ref name="mrcophth" /> Rufus was the first to recognise a two-chambered eye, with one chamber from cornea to lens (filled with water), the other from lens to retina (filled with a substance resembling egg whites).

[[Celsus]] the Greek philosopher of the second century AD gave a detailed description of cataract surgery by the [[Couching (ophthalmology)|couching]] method.

The Greek physician [[Galen]] (second century AD) remedied some mistaken descriptions, including about the curvature of the cornea and lens, the nature of the optic nerve, and the existence of a [[posterior chamber of eyeball|posterior chamber]]. Although this model was a roughly correct modern model of the eye, it contained errors. Still, it was not advanced upon again until after [[Vesalius]]. A [[ciliary body]] was then discovered and the sclera, retina, choroid, and cornea were seen to meet at the same point. The two chambers were seen to hold the same fluid, as well as the lens being attached to the choroid. Galen continued the notion of a central canal, but he dissected the optic nerve and saw that it was solid. He mistakenly counted seven optical muscles, one too many. He also knew of the [[tear duct]]s.

===Ancient India===
The Indian surgeon [[Sushruta]] wrote the ''[[Sushruta Samhita]]'' in [[Sanskrit]] in approximately the sixth century BC,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Boslaugh|first1=Sarah|title=Encyclopedia of epidemiology|date=2007|publisher=SAGE|isbn=978-1412928168|page=547}}</ref> which describes 76 ocular diseases (of these, 51 surgical) as well as several ophthalmological surgical instruments and techniques.<ref>Bidyadhar, N.K. (1939), Sushruta's Ophthalmic Operations, [[Archives of Ophthalmology]], 22, page 553.</ref><ref>Agarwal, R.K. (1965), Ancient Indian Ophthalmology, The Ophthalmic Optician, 5(21),1093–1100 (the title of this journal was changed to Optometry Today in 1985), published by the Association of Optometrists, London, England.</ref> His description of [[cataract surgery]] was compatible with the method of [[Couching (ophthalmology)|couching]].<ref>Roy, P.N., Mehra, K.S. and Deshpande, P.J. (1975), Cataract surgery performed before 800 BC, [[British Journal of Ophthalmology]], 59, page 171</ref> He has been described as one of the first cataract surgeons.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.infinityfoundation.com/mandala/t_es/t_es_agraw_susruta.htm |title=Susruta: The Great Surgeon of Yore |publisher=Infinityfoundation.com |access-date=2008-11-04 |archive-date=2015-12-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151204103407/http://www.infinityfoundation.com/mandala/t_es/t_es_agraw_susruta.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Kansupada | first1 = K. B. | last2 = Sassani | first2 = J. W. | title = Sushruta: The father of Indian surgery and ophthalmology | journal = Documenta Ophthalmologica. Advances in Ophthalmology | volume = 93 | issue = 1–2 | pages = 159–167 | year = 1997 | pmid = 9476614 | doi = 10.1007/BF02569056 | s2cid = 9045799 }}</ref>

===Medieval Islam===
{{Main|Ophthalmology in medieval Islam}}
[[Image:Cheshm manuscript.jpg|thumb|240px|Anatomy of the Eye, 1200 A.D.]]
Medieval Islamic Arabic and Persian scientists (unlike their classical predecessors) considered it normal to combine theory and practice, including the crafting of precise instruments, and therefore, found it natural to combine the study of the eye with the practical application of that knowledge.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Science in the Middle Ages|author=David C. Lindberg|publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]]|year=1980|isbn=0-226-48233-2|page=21|author-link=David C. Lindberg}}</ref> [[Hunayn ibn Ishaq]], and others beginning with the medieval Arabic period, taught that the crystalline lens is in the exact center of the eye.<ref name="Clinical Ophthalmology">{{cite journal |vauthors=Leffler CT, Hadi TM, Udupa A, Schwartz SG, Schwartz D |title=A medieval fallacy: the crystalline lens in the center of the eye |journal=Clinical Ophthalmology |volume=2016 |issue=10 |pages=649–662 |year=2016 |pmc=4833360 |pmid=27114699 |doi=10.2147/OPTH.S100708 |doi-access=free }}</ref> This idea was propagated until the end of the 1500s.<ref name="Clinical Ophthalmology"/>

[[Ibn al-Nafis]], an Arabic native of Damascus, wrote a large textbook, ''The Polished Book on Experimental Ophthalmology'', divided into two parts, ''On the Theory of Ophthalmology'' and ''Simple and Compounded Ophthalmic Drugs''.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures|editor=Helaine Selin|author=David C. Lindberg|publisher=Kluwer Academic Publishers|year=1997|isbn=0792340663|page=410}}</ref>

[[Avicenna]] wrote in his Canon "rescheth", which means "retiformis", and [[Gerard of Cremona]] translated this at approximately 1150 into the new term "retina".<ref>{{cite journal|last1=de Jong|first1=Paulus T. V. M.|title=From where does "rete" in retina originate?|journal=Graefe's Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology|date=10 August 2014|volume=252|issue=10|pages=1525–1527|doi=10.1007/s00417-014-2769-1|pmid=25107541|doi-access=free}}</ref>

===Modern period===
[[Image:A double sheet showing various ophthalmology instruments, ey Wellcome V0016255.jpg|thumb|240px|Early Ophthalmology instruments]]
In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, [[hand lens]]es were used by [[Malpighi]], [[microscope]]s by [[Antonie van Leeuwenhoek|Leeuwenhoek]], preparations for fixing the eye for study by [[Frederik Ruysch|Ruysch]], and later the freezing of the eye by [[Francois Pourfour du Petit|Petit]]. This allowed for detailed study of the eye and an advanced model. Some mistakes persisted, such as: why the pupil changed size (seen to be vessels of the iris filling with blood), the existence of the [[posterior chamber of eyeball|posterior chamber]], and the nature of the retina. Unaware of their functions, [[Antonie van Leeuwenhoek|Leeuwenhoek]] noted the existence of photoreceptors,<ref>{{cite web|title=Important Dates in Vision Science|url=http://www.arts.rpi.edu/~ruiz/stereo_history/text/visionsc.html|website=www.arts.rpi.edu|access-date=2018-03-27|archive-date=2019-12-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191216134325/http://www.arts.rpi.edu/~ruiz/stereo_history/text/visionsc.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> however, they were not properly described until [[Gottfried Reinhold Treviranus]] in 1834.

[[Jacques Daviel]] performed the first documented planned primary cataract extraction on Sep. 18, 1750 in Cologne.<ref name="Eye1">{{cite journal | last1 = Leffler | first1 = CT | last2 = Hogewind | first2 = BF |name-list-style=vanc | year = 2023 | title = Jacques Daviel performed the first documented planned primary cataract extraction on Sep. 18, 1750. | journal = Eye | volume = Dec. 6, 2023| issue = 7 | pages = 1392–1393 | doi = 10.1038/s41433-023-02874-5 | pmid = 38057561 | pmc = 11076578 | s2cid = 266051586 }}</ref>
[[Georg Joseph Beer]] (1763–1821) was an Austrian ophthalmologist and leader of the First Viennese School of Medicine. He introduced a flap operation for treatment of [[cataract]] (Beer's operation), as well as having popularized the instrument used to perform the surgery (Beer's knife).<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U2Iigywli08C |title=Fuchs, Ernst, and Alexander Duane.Text-book of Ophthalmology. Philadelphia, PA: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1908 |date=2001-01-01 |access-date=2013-03-11 |last1=Fuchs |first1=Ernst |archive-date=2023-03-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230329100704/https://books.google.com/books?id=U2Iigywli08C |url-status=live }}</ref>

In North America, indigenous healers treated some eye diseases by rubbing or scraping the eyes or eyelids.<ref name="Ophthalmology and Eye Diseases">{{cite journal |vauthors=Leffler CT, et al. |title=Ophthalmology in North America: Early Stories (1491-1801) |journal=Ophthalmology and Eye Diseases|volume=9 |pages=1–51 |year=2017 |pmid=28804247 |pmc=5533269 |doi= 10.1177/1179172117721902 |url=}}</ref>

===Ophthalmic surgery in The United Kingdom===
The first ophthalmic surgeon in the UK was [[John Freke (surgeon)|John Freke]], appointed to the position by the governors of [[St. Bartholomew's Hospital]] in 1727. A major breakthrough came with the appointment of Baron de Wenzel (1724–90), a German who became the oculist to [[King George III]] of Great Britain in 1772. His skill at removing cataracts legitimized the field.<ref name="wyman">{{cite journal | author = Wyman A.L. | year = 1991 | title = Baron De Wenzel, Oculist to King George III: His Impact on British Ophthalmologists | journal = Medical History | volume = 35 | issue = 1| pages = 78–88 | doi=10.1017/s0025727300053138| pmid = 2008123 | pmc = 1036270}}</ref> The first dedicated ophthalmic hospital opened in 1805 in London; it is now called [[Moorfields Eye Hospital]].  Clinical developments at Moorfields and the founding of the Institute of Ophthalmology (now part of the [[University College London]]) by [[Stewart Duke-Elder|Sir Stewart Duke-Elder]] established the site as the largest eye hospital in the world and a nexus for ophthalmic research.<ref>{{cite journal | author = Davidson Luke | year = 1996 | title = 'Identities Ascertained': British Ophthalmology in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century | journal = Social History of Medicine | volume = 9 | issue = 3| pages = 313–333 | doi=10.1093/shm/9.3.313| pmid = 11618725 }}</ref>

===Central Europe===
In Berlin, ophthalmologist [[Albrecht von Graefe (ophthalmologist)|Albrecht von Graefe]] introduced [[iridectomy]] as a treatment for glaucoma and improved cataract surgery, he is also considered the founding father of the German Ophthalmological Society.

Numerous ophthalmologists fled Germany after 1933 as the Nazis began to persecute those of Jewish descent. A representative leader was [[Joseph Igersheimer]] (1879–1965), best known for his discoveries with arsphenamine for the treatment of syphilis. He fled to [[Turkey]] in 1933. As one of eight emigrant directors in the Faculty of Medicine at the [[University of Istanbul]], he built a modern clinic and trained students. In 1939, he went to the United States, becoming a professor at [[Tufts University]].<ref>{{cite journal | author = Namal Arin, Reisman Arnold | year = 2007 | title = Joseph Igersheimer (1879–1965): A Visionary Ophthalmologist and his Contributions before and after Exile | journal = Journal of Medical Biography | volume = 15 | issue = 4| pages = 227–234 | doi=10.1258/j.jmb.2007.06-63| pmid = 18172563 | s2cid = 45604124 }}</ref> German ophthalmologist, [[Gerhard Meyer-Schwickerath]] is widely credited with developing the predecessor of laser coagulation, photocoagulation.

In 1946, Igersheimer conducted the first experiments on light coagulation. In 1949, he performed the first successful treatment of a retinal detachment with a light beam (light coagulation) with a self-constructed device on the roof of the ophthalmic clinic at the [[University of Hamburg|University of Hamburg-Eppendorf]].<ref name="Goes">{{Cite book|title=Eye in history|last=Goes|first=Frank|date=2013|publisher=Jaypee Brothers|isbn=9789350902745|location=New Delhi|oclc=813930522}}</ref><ref name="Boyd">{{Cite book|title=Modern ophthalmology : the highlights : the account of a master wintnessing a 60 year epoch of evolution and progress (1950-2010)|last=Boyd|first=Benjamin|date=2010|publisher=Jaypee-Highlights Medical Publishers|isbn=9789962678168|location=Panama|oclc=720191230}}</ref>

Polish ophthalmology dates to the thirteenth century. The Polish Ophthalmological Society was founded in 1911. A representative leader was [[Adam Zamenhof]] (1888–1940), who introduced certain diagnostic, surgical, and nonsurgical eye-care procedures. He was executed by the German Nazis in 1940.<ref>{{cite journal | author = Wincewicz Andrzej|display-authors=etal| year = 2009 | title = Dr Adam Zamenhof (1888-1940) and his insight into ophthalmology | journal = Journal of Medical Biography | volume = 17 | issue = 1| pages = 18–22 | doi=10.1258/jmb.2008.008037 | pmid=19190194|s2cid=46308292}}</ref>

Zofia Falkowska (1915–93) head of the Faculty and Clinic of Ophthalmology in Warsaw from 1963 to 1976, was the first to use lasers in her practice.

===Contributions by physicists===
The prominent physicists of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries included [[Ernst Abbe]] (1840–1905), a co-owner of at the Zeiss Jena factories in Germany, where he developed numerous optical instruments. [[Hermann von Helmholtz]] (1821–1894) was a polymath who made contributions to many fields of science and invented the [[ophthalmoscope]] in 1851. They both made theoretical calculations on image formation in optical systems and also had studied the optics of the eye.

===Bibliography===
* Christopher Leffler (ed.), ''Biographies of Ophthalmologists from Around the World: Ancient, Medieval, and Early Modern'', Wroclaw 2024, pp. 384, ISBN 9798342679220