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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