Prominent People in the Contact Lens World – Thomas Young
Whilst Thomas Young lived, in comparison, a somewhat short life, he achieved more than most could only imagine.
Born in 1773 as one of ten siblings, Young had already mastered the Greek and Latin languages by the time he was in his mid-teenage years, as well as being fluent in no less than ten other languages, including French, Turkish, Syriac and Amharic.
At the age of 19, in 1792, Young moved to London to begin his study of medicine, which became his main interest and passion. Travelling around Europe to ensure he got the best possible medical education, Young lived in both Scotland and Germany for several years throughout his study before settling back in London prior to the turn of the 19th Century in 1897. Establishing himself as a leading physician, this became Young’s primary focus for many years.
Only a few years into his life as a full time physician, Young made an important development in the field of vision and contact lenses. In 1801, Young created a device, in the style of a monocle or eye-cup, which was filled with liquid and had an attached microscope. Whilst the aim wasn’t to correct any vision errors but to purely enhance the wearers sight, Young’s workings are ranked highly with the early developments of the modern day contact lens.
Gaining praise from such people as Albert Einstein and fellow contact lens developer Sir John Herschel, Thomas Young was a master in all of the fields he worked in. From his favoured physics to his cherished Eygptology and linguistic skills, Young was at the top of his game in all of them, with his additions to the development of contact lenses being just one of his many achievements.