Although contact lenses may seem to be a relatively new concept,
you'd be surprised to learn that Leonardo Da Vinci played a big
part in contact lens history. He created a journal called "1508
Codex Of The Eye Manual". This described a technique of altering
functions in the cornea by having an open eye in a bowl of water.
Although this didn't make any improvements to correcting vision,
it was the first observation on changes to the eyes under
certain liquid conditions. This information really started a
lot of studies and was the foundation that later experiments
worked upon.

In the late 1700's, Rene Descartes had his own impact on contact
lens history. He created a glass tube filled with liquid, that
is placed on the cornea of the eye. Though studies didn't
conclude whether this was successful or not because it was simply too big
to be placed on the eye.

The next major invention came from Thomas Young. He created
liquid filled lenses that helped to correct vision when used at
different distance from the eye. He is credited as being the first person
to think about using lenses to correct vision.

However it wasn't until 1887 that German born Adolf Eugen Fick,
made his impact on contact lens history. He actually created the
first contact lens and he documented this in his book -
Contactbrille. He created a small lens formed with brown glass which was placed
on the outer core of the cornea. The remaining area was then
filled with a grape sugar solution.

Obviously, this was still far from perfect. It just wasn't
comfortable enough to be worn for a long period of time. It was later
transformed into a more compact version by another German, which made it more
comfortable to wear. Later, the Perspex-Plexiglas was used to
make an even lighter version and made a real impact on contact lens
history.

In 1999, silicone hydro gels were used in the creation of
contact lenses. These are by far the most comfortable and durable lenses ever
created. Most users admit to there comfort and ease of use and have
switched to using them permanently.

What invention in contact lens history will come next is unsure
but it has certainly come a long way to helping people with their
sight and will certainly improve in the future.