Otto Wichterle- the inventor of the contact lens

Today, an interesting doodle&nbsp;has been&nbsp;presented on Google’s homepage. The doodle features&nbsp;a man with a single contact lens on his index fingertip while the alphabet ‘o’ in Google is designed as an eye- a representation of eyesight.&nbsp;This was Google’s way of paying tribute to and appreciating the contribution of Czech chemist, Otto&nbsp;Wichterle&nbsp;on his 108th&nbsp;birth anniversary.&nbsp;Read on to know more about Otto&nbsp;Wichterle, and why Google paid a tribute to him.&nbsp;



Who&nbsp;was&nbsp;Otto&nbsp;Wichterle?&nbsp; Otto&nbsp;Wichterle&nbsp;was a Czech chemist known and celebrated for his greatest contribution- the contact lens. Born in&nbsp;Prostejov, Czech Republic in 1913,&nbsp;Wichterle&nbsp;was highly interested in science ever since he was a child. Now, he is deemed as the inventor of the soft contact lens which have helped people see clearly without the help of spectacles.&nbsp;He also invented a vast number of other patents.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Education&nbsp; Wichterle&nbsp;pursued his scientific academic interests, he studied organic chemistry from the Prague Institute of Chemical technology&nbsp;where&nbsp;he earned a doctorate.&nbsp;After completing his education,&nbsp;Wichterle&nbsp;took up teaching and was a professor at the same institute in the 1950s.&nbsp;



Invention of contact lens&nbsp; Due to certain political reasons,&nbsp;Wichterle&nbsp;was not allowed to continue his job as a professor at his alma mater. However, he independently continued working on developing a gel for eye implants which was both absorbent and transparent. He was successful in producing the first ever pair of soft contact lenses in the year 1961.&nbsp;A wearer of spectacles himself,&nbsp;Wichterle&nbsp;made these lenses with a DIY apparatus. This included a child’s erector set, a bicycle light battery, a phonograph motor and homemade glass tubing and moulds.&nbsp;Today, it is estimated that this ground-breaking invention of his is worn by 140 million individuals around the world.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Other&nbsp;achievements&nbsp; Although widely known specifically for his contact lens invention, this prolific chemist also made other noteworthy contributions to science. He paved the way for state-of-the-art,&nbsp;contemporary medical technologies namely, “smart” biomaterials. These are employed in order to restore human connective tissues. He also contributed immensely towards bio-recognisable polymers which led on to establish a new standard for drug administration.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Wichterle&nbsp;dedicated his life to science and was a lifelong researcher. After the Czech Republic was established as a country, in 1993, he was elected as the very first President of the Academy of the Czech Republic.&nbsp;&nbsp;



The world recognises Otto&nbsp;Wichterle’s&nbsp;contributions today, and wishes him like Google wrote, “Happy birthday, Otto&nbsp;Wichterle- thanks for helping the world see eye to eye!”&nbsp;

Here is everything about Otto Wichterle, the Czech chemist who how invented the contact lens. 

Otto Wichterle: The inventor of contact lens whom Google is paying tribute to

Here is everything about Otto Wichterle, the Czech chemist who how invented the contact lens.

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