Editing Optometry (section)

==History==
[[File: Page 423 from William Porterfield, A treatise on the eye (1759).jpg|thumb|upright|Page 423 from "A treatise on the eye, the manner and phaenomena of vision" by William Porterfield, Published 1759 in Edinburgh. In this book the word "optometer" appears for the first time.]]

Optometric history is tied to the development of{{citation needed|date=May 2023}}
* [[vision science]] (related areas of medicine, microbiology, neurology, physiology, psychology, etc.)
* optics, [[History of optics|optical aids]]
* [[optical instrument]]s, imaging techniques
* other [[eye care professional|eye care professions]]

The history of optometry can be traced back to the early studies on optics and image formation by the eye. The origins of optical science (optics, as taught in a basic physics class) date back a few thousand years as evidence of the existence of lenses for [[Decorative arts|decoration]] has been found in Greece and the Netherlands.{{citation needed|date=January 2017}}

It is unknown when the first [[spectacles]] were made. The British scientist and historian [[Joseph Needham|Sir Joseph Needham]], in his ''Science and Civilization in China'', reported the earliest mention of spectacles was in Venetian guild regulations {{circa|1300}}. He suggested that the occasional claim that spectacles were invented in China may have come from a paper by German-American anthropologist [[Berthold Laufer]].  Per Needham, the paper by Laufer had many inconsistencies, and that the references in the document used by Laufer were not in the original copies but added during the Ming dynasty.  Early Chinese sources mention the eyeglasses were imported.<ref>[[Joseph Needham|Sir Joseph Needham]]. [http://monoskop.org/images/7/70/Needham_Joseph_Science_and_Civilisation_in_China_Vol_4-1_Physics_and_Physical_Technology_Physics.pdf "Science and Civilization in China—Volume 4: Physics and Physical Technology; Part 1: Physics] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160823000519/https://monoskop.org/images/7/70/Needham_Joseph_Science_and_Civilisation_in_China_Vol_4-1_Physics_and_Physical_Technology_Physics.pdf |date=23 August 2016 }}. Monoskop.org. Retrieved 1 June 2015. pages 118 - 120</ref>

Research by David A. Goss in the United States shows they may have originated in the late 13th century in Italy as stated in a [[manuscript]] from 1305 where a monk from Pisa named Rivalto stated "It is not yet 20 years since there was discovered the art of making eyeglasses".<ref name="A">{{cite web |url=http://www.opt.indiana.edu/people/faculty/graphics/goss/opthx.pdf |title=History of Optometry |access-date=8 March 2010 |archive-date=14 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190214125325/http://www.opt.indiana.edu/people/faculty/graphics/goss/opthx.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> Spectacles were manufactured in Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands by 1300. Needham stated spectacles were first made shortly after 1286.<ref>'''''Science and Civilization in China:''' Volume 4, Part 1.'' page 120</ref>

In 1907, Laufer stated in his history of spectacles 'the opinion that spectacles originated in India is of the greatest probability and that spectacles must have been known in India earlier than in Europe'.<ref>Laufer, Berthold (1907), Geschichte der Brille, Mitteilungen Zur Geschichte der Medizin und der Naturwissenschaften, no. 23, vi Bd., no.4, Leipzig,1907, pages 379-385</ref><ref>Agarwal R.K. (1971), Origin of Spectacles in India, ''[[British Journal of Ophthalmology]]'', 55(2), 128-29.</ref>  However, as already mentioned, Joseph Needham showed that the references Laufer cited were not in the older and best versions of the document Laufer used, leaving his claims unsupported.

In Sri Lanka, it is well-documented {{citation needed|date=February 2020}}that during the reign of King Bhuvanekabahu the IV (AD 1346 – 1353) of the Gampola period the ancient tradition of optical lens making with a natural stone called Diyatarippu was given royal patronage. A few of the craftsmen still live and practice in the original hamlet given to the exponents of the craft by royal decree.  But the date of King Bhuvanekabahu is decades after the mention of spectacles in the Venetian guild regulations <ref>Ilardi, Vincent (2007), ''Renaissance Vision from Spectacles to Telescopes'', Philadelphia, PA: American Philosophical Society. p. 9</ref> and after the 1306 sermon by Dominican friar Giordano da Pisa, where da Pisa said the invention of spectacles was both recent and that he had personally met the inventor <ref>Ilardi, Vincent (2007), ''Renaissance Vision from Spectacles to Telescopes'', Philadelphia, PA: American Philosophical Society. p. 5</ref>

The German word ''brille'' (eyeglasses) is derived from [[Sanskrit]] ''vaidurya''.<ref>Olivelle, Patrick (2006), Between the Empires, Society in India 300 BCE to 400 CE, page 463, Oxford University Press.</ref> Etymologically, ''brille'' is derived from [[beryl]], Latin ''beryllus'', from Greek ''beryllos'', from [[Prakrit]] ''verulia'', ''veluriya'', from Sanskrit ''vaidurya'', of Dravidian origin from the city of ''Velur'' (modern ''Belur''). Medieval Latin ''berillus'' was also applied to eyeglasses, hence German ''brille'', from Middle High German ''berille'', and French ''besicles'' (plural) ''spectacles'', altered from old French ''bericle''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/beryl|title=beryl &#124; Etymology, origin and meaning of beryl by etymonline|website=www.etymonline.com}}</ref>

Benito Daza de Valdes published the first full book on opticians in 1623, where he mentioned the use and fitting of eyeglasses.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://fs.aoa.org/optometry-archives/optometry-timeline.html|title=History of Optometry|website=fs.aoa.org|language=en|access-date=2018-08-03}}</ref> In 1692, William Molyneux wrote a book on optics and [[Lens (optics)|lenses]] where he stated his ideas on [[myopia]] and problems related to close-up vision. The scientists Claudius Ptolemy and Johannes Kepler also contributed to the creation of optometry. Kepler discovered how the [[retina]] in the eye creates [[visual perception|vision]]. From 1773 until around 1829, Thomas Young discovered the disability of [[astigmatism]] and it was George Biddell Airy who designed glasses to correct that problem that included sphero-cylindrical lens.<ref name="B">{{cite web|url=http://www.whonamedit.com/doctor.cfm/1715.html |title=Thomas Young |access-date=8 March 2010}}</ref>

Although the term optometer appeared in the 1759 book ''A Treatise on the Eye: The Manner and Phenomena of Vision'' by Scottish physician William Porterfield, it was not until the early twentieth century in the United States and Australia that "optometry" began to be used to describe the profession. By the early twenty-first century, however, marking the distinction with dispensing [[optician]]s, it had become the internationally accepted term.