Notable eye doctors
- Harry Moss Traquair Scottish ophthalmologist and Perimetrist (1875-1954). He coined the familiar description of the visual field as “an island of vision or hill of vision surrounded by a sea of blindness”. The Traquair scotoma or Traquair junctional scotoma is named after him. Credits/Permission: Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh Library Collection
- Hermann Von Helmholtz, The inventor of the ophthalmoscope (1850). This device allows the ophthalmologist to examine the retina of the eye. Credits: US National Library of Medicine
- Sir Charles Bell, Scottish surgeon and anatomist. In 1821, he showed that lesions of the 7th cranial nerve caused facial paralysis. This is now called Bell’s palsy. Credits: National Portrait Gallery, London
- Allvar Gullstrand Swedish ophthalmologist and inventor of the slit lamp. He is known for his work in describing the dioptric system of the human eye. He won a Nobel prize for this work in 1911. Image credits: US National Library of Medicine.
- Sir Harold Ridley (1906-2001), inventor of the Intraocular lens. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 2000. See Story at https://eyesurgeon.sg/intraocular-lens-implant/ . Credits: National Portrait Gallery, London
- Felix Giraud-Teulon, France, invented the binocular indirect ophthalmoscope in 1861
- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Better known as the creator of Sherlock Holmes, this Scottish Doctor trained as an ophthalmologist in Vienna. Credits National Portrait Gallery, London.
- John Edward Cairns developed the glaucoma surgery – Trabeculectomy. His paper was published in 1968. See Story at https://eyesurgeon.sg/history-of-trabeculectomy/
- Jack J. Kanski is best known as the author of “Clinical Ophthalmology: A Systematic Approach” used by ophthalmology residents around the world. Photo credit : Pandey SK, Sharma V. Mr. Jack J. Kanski (1939-2019): A tribute. Indian J Ophthalmol 2019;67:306
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