A D V E N T U R E S   in   C Y B E R S O U N D

Introduction

There are many well known accounts of the history of visual science (some references are given below) but it seems hard to find a simple chronological listing of major events. Sometimes such a list can be helpful in gaining a quick historical perspective. This note presents a chronology listing 133 significant events between 1600 and 1960.

All of this material is based on standard secondary sources : the author (Jack Yellott) is not a specialist in the history of science, and the object here is not to contribute anything new to the history of vision research but rather simply to collate material already scattered throughout the literature, though of course the choice of "significant" events is idiosyncratic.

Comments as to the accuracy and importance of the events listed will be very welcome, as will additions to the list. Please send eMail to Mike D'Zmura mdzmura@uci.edu

1604

Kepler's Ad Vitellionem Paralipomena : First explanation of the optics of the eye.

1610

Galileo publishes the Siderial Messenger.

First look at the sky through a telescope.

1611

Kepler's Dioptrice : First analysis of the optics of myopia.

Projection theory of stereoscopic vision.

1619

Scheiner's Oculus : First demonstration that accommodation is an active process.

First use of fixatives to preserve the eye for anatomical study.

First accurate diagrams of the human eye. Discovery of the pupillary "near reflex."

1621

Snell's law. (Kepler's optical analysis was based on Ptolemy's small angle approximation to Snell's law.)

1625

Scheiner : First direct observation of the retinal image.

1637

Descartes' La Dioptrique. Corpuscular theory of light.

First suggestion of point to point projection of retina onto brain (in his view, onto the walls of the ventricles).

1664

Willis traces the optic tract to the thalamus.

1665

Grimaldi describes diffraction (posthumously).

1666

Newton's prism experiments.

1675

Roemer measures the speed of light.

1678

Briggs describes fibers in the retina.

1681

Mariotte discovers the blind spot; articulates trichromacy of human colour vision.

1682

Newton proposes partial decussation at the optic chiasm.

1684

First microscopic observation of the retina : Leewenhock notices receptors.

1684

Briggs describes night blindness.

1690

Huygens : Longitudinal wave model of light; discovery of polarisation .

1700

Ruysch describes ocular circulatory system.

1704

Newton's Optics.

1705

Hooke reports 1' limit of visual acuity.

1719

Morgani describes homonymous hemianopia.

1751

Whytt explains neurology of pupillary light reflex.

1755

LeRoy demonstrates electrical phosphenes in blind observers : First hint of a relationship between electricity and vision.

1757

Lomonosov suggests three - "particle" basis of colour vision.

1760

Bouguer measures luminance contrast thresholds, prediscovers Weber's Law.

1776

Gennari describes striate area of occipital cortex.

1789

Maskelyne describes night myopia.

1793

Young discovers astigmation and that accommodation of the eye is due to a change in the curvature of the lens.

1798

Dalton describes colour blindness (his own deuteranopia).

1800

Herschel discovers infrared light.

1801

Ritter discovers ultraviolet light.

Young proposes three receptor theory of colour vision and introduces mapping of visual fields.

1802

Young discovers interference.

1804

Troxler describes loss of colour in the periphery of the visual field.

1807

Gall proposes concept of localisation of mental functions in the cortex.

1808

French Academy refuses to admit Gall on grounds that the cortex has nothing to do with thinking.

1817

Young proposes transverse wave model of light.

Josef Fraunhofer discovers the "Fraunhofer lines" in the spectrum of sunlight.

1818

Vieth-Muller horopter.

1824

Wollaston explains homonymous hemianopia in terms of partial decussation at the chiasm.

Flourens demonstrates loss of vision following cortical lesions (first proof that the cortex is involved in vision).

1825

Purkinje describes optokinetic nystagmus, entopic visualization of retina blood vessels, "Purkinje shift" in spectral luminosity during dark adaptation, blue arcs of the retina, "Purkinje images" (reflections from surfaces of cornea, lens), and motion aftereffects.

1826

Niepce makes the first photograph.

J. Muller proposes doctrine of specific energy of nerves, explains optics of compound eyes.

1829

Plateau initiates study of flicker, discovers stroboscopic movement, invents motion pictures (the "phenakistoscope")

1832

Chevreul describes simultaneous colour contrast.

Weber measures increment thresholds; Weber's law.

1833

Wheatstone invents the stereoscope.

1834

Plateau-Talbot law.

Robert Addams rediscovers the motion aftereffect after looking at the Waterfall of Foyers in Scotland : an illusory motion that notwithstanding the fact that there were at least three earlier reports on this effect, still became known as the Waterfall Illusion. The effect was probably first described by Aristotle in his treatise on dreams. The direction of this illusory motion was first described by Lucretius, a couple of centuries later.

In 1825 Johann Evangeliste Purkyne also described the phenomenon after having looked at a cavalry parade.

1838

Fechner discovers subjective colour.

1841

Dove shows that stereopsis does not depend on eye movements.

1844

Haidinger's brushes.

1845

Masson shows that Weber's law fails at low luminances.

1847

Donder's law of ocular movements.

1849

Du Bois Reymond discovers the resting potential of the eye.

1851

H. Muller notices visual purple in rods.

Helmholtz invents the opthalmoscope.

1853

Grassman formulates laws of trichromacy.

1854

H. Mueller proves that photoreception occurs in rods and cones.

Gratiolet traces visual radiation from thalamus to occipital cortex. Listing's law of ocular movements.

1856

Maxwell tests validity of Grassman's laws; discovers "Maxwell's spot."

Helmholtz proves that accommodation is effected by a reshaping of the lens. Von Graefe introduces clinical perimentry.

Helmholtz' Handbuch der Physiologischen Optik.

1857

Aubert and Forster demonstrate extrafoveal falloff in acuity.

1858

Panum measures areas of stereoscopic fusion.

1860

Fechner's Element der Psychophysik.

1862

Maxwell's theory of electromagnetic radiation.

1864

Donders explains principles of clinical refraction and prescription.

1865

Aubert : First quantitative studies of absolute threshold and dark adaptation.

Mach describes "Mach bands," suggests lateral inhibition in the retina.

First measurements of stereoscopic acuity (Hering, Helmholtz).

1866

Holmgren discovers the electroretinogram.

Schultz distinguishes rods and cones; proposes duplicity theory of the retina.

1867

Helmholtz discovers the Bezold-Brucke effect.

1870

Meynert shows that optic radiation terminates in striate area.

1875

Golgi stain. von Gudden establishes partial decussation at the chiasm.

Hering proposes opponent process theory of color vision.

1876

Boll discovers that "visual purple" is bleached by light.

1877

Ricco's law.

1878

Kuehne isolates rhodopsin.

1879

Munk formulates concept of topographic projection of retina onto occipital cortex.

1880

Kuehne and Steiner measure gross electrical response of isolated retina.

1881

Rayleigh's anomaloscope.

1885

Bloch's law.

1886

Konig "Fundamentals."

1890

Willbrand proposes point to point projection of retina onto striate area.

1892

Ferry-Porter law.

1892

Wulfing measures vernier acuity.

1893

Cajal's La retine des vertebres : first complete description of retinal neuroanatomy as revealed by Golgi stain.

Abbe initiates Fourier optics (first informed manipulations of image spectrum).

1894

Konig demonstrates agreement between absorption spectrum of rhodopsin and scotopic spectal sensitivity.

1896

Flechsig describes course of visual radiation from lateral geniculate nucleus to striate area (based on myelogenesis).

Stratton experiments with inverted retinal images.

1900

Planck introduces quantum concept.

1903

Piper's law.

1905

Einstein's photon theory.

1910

Minkowski demonstrates point to point projection onto striate area in dogs via behavioral methods.

1911

Gullstrand invents the slit lamp.

1913

Abney's law. Minkowski demonstrates separate laminar terminations of left and right optic nerve fibers in lateral geniculate nucleus.

1918

Holmes presents first map of striate cortical projection of the visual field in man.

1920

First anatomical demonstration of point to point projection of retina onto lateral geniculate nucleus (Minkowski, Brouwer and Zeeman).

1922

First application of Fourier analysis to flicker sensitivity (Ives).

1924

First C. I. E. photopic luminosity function.

1925

Holm demonstrates that vitamin A deficiency causes night blindness.

1927

First recording of electrical activity in optic nerve (Adrian and Matthews)

1929

Berger discovers alpha component of the EEG.

1929

First electrical stimulation of human visual cortex (Foerster and Penfield).

1931

C. I. E. standardises calorimetry (Guild-Wright primaries).

First measurement of rhodopsin regeneration in vivo (Tansley)

1932

First recording of electrical activity in single optic nerve fibres (in Limulus; Hartline and Graham).

1933

Stiles and Crawford demonstrate directional sensitivity of cones.

Wald finds vitamin A in rhodopsin.

First electronically amplified human ERG (Cooper, Creed, and Granit)

1935

Osterberg : First cell count of rods and cones in human retina.

LeGrand measures visual acuity bypassing the optics of the eye.

1939

Stiles introduces Pi mechanism analysis of increment thresholds.

1941

First mapping of the cortical projection of the retina based on electrical responses (Talbot and Marshall).

1942

Hecht, Schlarr, and Pirenne show that rods respond to single quanta.

1943

DeVries-Rose law.

1947

Granit distinguishes sustained and transient ganglion cells.

1948

Gabor describes principles of holography.

Rose introduces the concept of detective quantum efficiency

1949

Transient VEP first reported by C. C. Evans

1951

C. I. E. standardises scotopic luminosity function.

1952

First electrical recording from individual mammalian retinal ganglion cells : Discovery of antagonistic center-surround organization of receptive fields (Kuffler).

First demonstration of subjective disappearance of stabilized retinal images (Ditchburn and Ginsborg; Riggs, Ratcliff, Cornsweet and Cornsweet).

1953

First recording from horizontal cells (Svaetichin's S potential).

1954

First psychophysical demonstration of rod saturation (Aguilar and Stiles).

Peterson, Birdsall and Fox present the theory of signal detectability.

Tanner and Swets apply the theory of signal detectability to human sensation.

1955

Photoreversal (Hagins, Hubbard, and Kropf).

Jameson and Hurvich use hue cancellation to infer opponent color codes.

First study of rhodopsin regeneration in living human retina by ophthalmic densitometry by Rushton, Campbell, Hagins, and Brindley.

Rushton demonstrates light induced changes in human cone pigments; identifies chlorolabe and erythrolabe.

Flament makes the first measurement of the line-spread function of the human eye.

1956

First measurement of human spatial modulation transfer function by Schade.

Barlow demonstrates the existence of dark light at absolute threshold.

1957

Reichardt presents an autocorrelation model for motion detection.

1959

Land's color demonstrations.

First electrical recording from individual visual cortical neurons; discovery of simple, complex, hypercomplex receptive fields by Hubel and Weisel.

Lettvin, Maturana, McCullogh and Pitt examine feature detectors in the frog visual system.

1960

Publication of first random dot stereogram by Julesz.

Average transient VEP reported W. A. Cobb & G. D. Dawson

References

Addams, R. (1834). An account of a peculiar optical phenomenon seen after having looked at a moving body, etc. London & Edinburgh Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science, 5, 373-374.

Barlow, H. (1956). Retinal noise and absolute threshold, Journal of the Optical Society of America 46, 634-639.

Baumgardt, E. (1972) Threshold quantal problems. In Handbook of Sensory Physiology, Vol. VII/4 : Visual Psychophysics. (Edited by Jameson, D., and Hurvich, L.M.) Springer-Verlag, New York.

Blackwell, H. R. (1972) Luminance difference thresholds. In Handbook of Sensory Physiology, Vol. VII/4 : Visual Psychophysics. (Edited by Jameson, D., and Hurvich, L.M.) Springer-Verlag, New York.

Boring, E. G. (1942) Sensation and perception in the History of Experimental Psychology. Appleton-Century, New York.

Brindley, G. S. (1970) Physiology of the Retina and Visual Pathway. Williams & Wilkins Co., Baltimore.

Cornsweet, T. N. and Yellott, J. I. (in press) - Visual Perception. In Handbook of Physiology, Vol. II. (Edited by Darian-Smith, I.) American Physiological Society.

Davson, H. (1976) The Eye, Vol. 2A : Visual Function in _ . Academic Press, New York.

Duke-Elder, S. (1958) System of Ophthalmology, Vol. I : The Eye in Evolution. C. V. Mosby Co., St. Louis.

Duke-Elder, S. and Wybar, K. C. (1961) System of Ophthalmology, Vol. II : The Anatomy of the Visual System. C. V. Mosby Co., St. Louis.

Duke-Elder, S., Gloster, J., and Weale, R. (1968) System of Ophthal-mology, Vol. IV : Physiology of the Eye and of Vision. C. V. Mosby Co., St. Louis.

Duke-Elder, S. and Scott, G. I. (1971) System of Ophthalmology, Vol. XII : Neuroopthalmology. C. V. Mosby Co., St. Louis.

Fraunhofer, J. (1817). Bestimmung des Brechungs- und Farbenzerstreuungs-Vermoegens verschiedener Glasarten, in Bezug auf die Vervollkommnung achromatischer Fernroehre. Denkschriften der koeniglichen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Muenchen, 5, 193-226 (also in : Gilberts Annalen der Physik, 56, 264-313).

Julesz, B. (1960) Binocular depth perception of computer-generated patterns, Bell System Technical Journal 39, 1125-62.

Kelly, D. H. (1972) Flicker. In Handbook of Sensory Physiology, Vol. VII/4 : Visual Psychophysics. (Edited by Jameson, D., and Hurvich, L.M.) Springer-Verlag, New York.

Lucretius (1975) De Rerum Natura. Translated into English by W.H.D. Rouse. Cambridge, Mass : Harvard University Press.

Pledge, H. T. (1952) Science Since 1500. Harper & Bros., New York.

Polyak, S. L. (1957) The Vertebrate Visual System. Univ. of Chicago Press, Chicago.

Purkinje, J.E. (1825). Beobachtungen und Versuche zur Physiologie der Sinne. Bd II. Neurere Beitrage zur Kenntnis des Sehens in subjectiver Hinsicht. Berlin : Reimer.

Reichardt, W. (1957) Autokorrelationsauswertung als Funktionsprinzip des Zentralnervensystems, Z. Naturforsch 1957, 12b, 447-457.

Rose, A. (1948). The sensitivity performance of the human eye on an absolute scale. Journal of the Optical Society of America 38, 196-208.

Wertheimer, G. (1972) Visual acuity and spatial modulation thresholds. In Handbook of Sensory Physiology, Vol. VII/4 : Visual Psychophysics. (Edited by Jameson, D., and Hurvich, L.M.) Springer-Verlag, New York.

Source : Britannica Online

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