The idea of placing corrective lenses right or directly at the surface of the cornea of the eye is not really a post modern eye care innovation thing; hence its original blue print can be dated way back in high Renaissance period where the famous Florentine artist Leonardo Da Vinci sketched the idea of first contact lens that will aid vision and change human eye’s corneal power.
Past versions or models of contacts are in fact unwieldy and uncomfortable to use for it is made up of fine glass. But today’s contact models offer both comfort and style as it never fails to aid vision and help people (especially young people )deal with various eye and vision problems.
It was in 1630s when a French Philosopher under the name René Descartes proposed the idea of using the lens, placing it directly right at the surface of the cornea. He proposed in the invention of liquid-filled glass tube to aid poor eye vision. At 1801, a scientist named Thomas Young developed René Descartes’ proposal by operating experiments with the use of liquid-filled eye cups, which outer end contained a microscopic lens.
John Herschel in 19th century then proposed the same idea with the use of jelly-filled capsule and corneal mould. Though it was said that Herschel never tested his idea at first place, his proposal was then used in various studies and experiments for the development of today’s modern version of contacts. His proposal has even led to the invention of the lens that can shape and fit the eye.
After 40 years, a German under the name of F.E. Muller made the first usable contacts that are made up of glass. These are of course, not very comfortable to wear, and in fact painful to the eyes when worn for hours. Since then, its history has got a long way, and various experiments and studies have been conducted to develop Da Vinci’s contact lens concept. Various changes are made for different purpose or use of contact lens. Nowadays, we can find not only corrective contacts for the eyes but also colored contacts for fashion purposes.