Week 11: Glass Contacts

It's amazing that the precursor of contact lenses began with Leonardo da Vinci making an observation about improved vision under water, which eventually led a German ophthalmologist  to come up with glass contacts. Adolf Fick was the first person to successfully produce and fit a pair of glass contact lenses into rabbits eyes. There were some glitches to glass contacts: uncomfortable to wear, could barely blink, and it produced a dry eye which impaired vision. These glass spheres were the precursor to plastic contact that are used in the 20th and 21st centuries. If it were not for glass we wouldn't have improved optics that we have today, whether that be contacts, eye glasses, or interocular lenses.

At first I felt sadden because glass is becoming less common due to plastics, but glass is the foundation that started it all. It will always be the standard in which plastic much match up with.

Glass Contacts

Below are some links about the history of contacts, as you read through the links take the following into consideration:

What are some reasons to use plastic instead of glass?

How does the physical properties differ between glass and plastic?

Why oxygenation to the cornea important when wearing contacts?

Not all of these questions will be found within the links given, but include where you found the answer.

Websites:

• History of Glass Contacts
• Making Contacts
• Contact Lens Info Graphic
• Contact Lens Timeline
• NY Times First Mention of Contact Lenses