Name/Title
Installation shot of cabinet 2CDescription
Hermann von Helmholtz was the inventor of the ophthalmoscope, the most
important ophthalmological invention.
Born in Germany, Helmholtz studied medicine at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Institut in Berlin, graduating in 1843. Whilst studying the eye, he discovered that he could focus the light reflected from the retina to produce a clear view of the fundus. He created the ophthalmoscope in 1851, allowing ophthalmologists to diagnose eye diseases that cause dimness or loss of vision. Over the years ophthalmologists adapted and improved the ophthalmoscope, creating new design innovations such as the Rekoss disc, a rotatable disc containing a number of lenses that correct errors of refraction.
Two years before the death of Helmholtz, American ophthalmologist Edward Loring wrote, “In the whole history of medicine there is no more beautiful episode than the invention of the ophthalmoscope, and physiology has few greater triumphs.”
