Historical Development Flashcards
When did optometry begin?
Just over 100 years ago when the first licensure laws were passed but theoretically the lat 13th century in Italy
Why did optometry begin in Italy?
Venice had the best glass making trade used to make spectacles in the late 13th century
When was the start of optometry in the US?
1783- John McAllister from the UK purchased a bushel of reading glasses and started the first optical firm in the US in Philadelphia, PA
Why is the War of 1812 significant for optometry?
Before 1812, lenses were made in Germany and England. The war caused the US to make the first lenses in the country.
What was the historical optometric refraction like?
Not a true refraction, trial and error with standard sets of glasses to determine best pair; paid for material not the service
Describe the early 1900s optical
The McAllister family owned and operated an optical business until the early 1900s; spectacle makers became the first refractionists
Who is James Prentice?
A European educated in physics, engineering, and math; he came to the US in 1847– his son is Charles Prentice
Ophthalmoscope
1851 von Helmholtz
visual acuity test types
1862 Hermann Snellen
Retinoscopy
1873 Cuignet
Who is Charles Prentice?
The father of modern optometry; static and dynamic retinoscopy, Prentice’s rule, schematic eye, laws of cylindrical lenses, dioptric power, published Ophthalmic Lenses in 1886, organized NY Optical Society
Charles Prentice’s biggest contributions:
1895- wanted to get paid, threatened with jail
1896- wrote a treatise on optometry as a profession “a lens is not a pill”
1897- introduced the first bill to define optometry as “refraction, dispensing, and related services”
When was the first licensure passed?
1901 in Minnesota
Who is Andrew Cross?
Contemporary of Prentice, the “Grand old man of optometry”– believed that education was the key to the advance of the profession, not legislation! In 1911 he wrote Dynamic Skiametry in Theory and Practice about dynamic retinoscopy
Explain Bausch and Lomb
Bausch was a German immigrant partnered with Lomb to set up an optical shop in NY; one of the oldest optical companies
Who is AM Skeffington?
The Father of behavioral optometry; created CE after licensure; Vision is a learned behavior; how we learn to see influences the RE we show
Who is Irvin Borish?
Wrote Clinical Refraction, the quintessential optometry text; role in founding Indiana University School of Optometry
Where were the first university courses for optometry?
Columbia University between 1900-1940
What court ruled optometry separate from medicine?
1915 PA Supreme Court “optometry is a separate calling from medicine” and “not a minor branch of medicine”
Who is Charles Sheard?
The father of the four year degree (not doctoral); Princeton trained physicist, wanted a unified curriculum for schools; started OSU program
AOA
1900-1940 Education and growth of the profession
American Academy of Optometry
organized to encourage research and to improve ethical scientific standing of optometry
First Doctor of Optometry degree
PCO in 1923
Optometry on Trial
1937 article in Reader’s Digest
