Contact Lenses : Early Origins

1508

Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci is often credited for being the first to ponder upon the remote idea of contact lenses (especially for his time.) Not surprisingly enough, Leonardo's notes found in one of the 12 small manuscripts on sciences assigned to the Institut de France did not include the possible use of "contact lenses" for optical correction. He however managed to illustrate an experiment (never performed) where in a man would immerse his head in a glass bowl of water and be able to see clearly. As depicted in the illustration above,

"...the human eye takes the place of the optic nerve in a glass model of the eyeball with its lens, the whole apparatus being made to fit onto the head of the observer."(A)