Google Doodle pays tribute to Otto Wichterle who invented soft contact lens

Wednesday Doodle for Google

With a Doodle on Wednesday, Google honours the life and legacy of Otto Wichterle, the Czech scientist who pioneered the soft contact lens. Today, October 27, is the 108th birthday of the man whose invention is utilized by an estimated 140 million people worldwide. In 1913, he was born in Prostjov, Czech Republic (then Austria-Hungary).

Wichterle is seen in today’s Google Doodle clutching a single piece of contact lens between his fingertips, as light is reflected to form the Google logo, as a representation of eyesight.

Wichterle, who has always been interested in science, earned his PhD in organic chemistry from the Prague Institute of Chemical Technology in 1936. (ICT). During the 1950s, he lectured at his alma mater while developing an absorbent and transparent gel for ocular implants. Wichterle was forced out of the ICT by political upheaval, forcing him to continue perfecting his hydrogel development at home. In 1961, Wichterle, a glasses wearer, invented the first soft contact lenses with the use of a child’s erector set, a bicycle light battery, a phonograph motor, and handcrafted glass tubing and moulds.

Who is the inventor of Otto Wichterle?

As the inventor and lifelong researcher of countless summaries, Vichterle was elected the first President of the Academy of the Czech Republic since the country’s founding in 1993. Wichterle died on 18 August 1998. “Happy Birthday, Otto Wichterle – Thank you for helping the world see eye to eye!”, Google wrote in a blog post.

According to the US FDA, there are two general categories of contact lenses – soft and rigid gas permeable (RGP). The average age of contact lens wearers worldwide is 31 years.