Jessup Alexander James Cameron, Coroneo Minas Theodore
Ophthalmology Registrar, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
Department of Ophthalmology, School of Clinical Medicine, UNSW Medicine and Health Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, Australia.
Surv Ophthalmol. 2025 Jul-Aug;70(4):833-839. doi: 10.1016/j.survophthal.2024.08.006. Epub 2024 Aug 29.
We review Antoni van Leeuwenhoek's (1632 - 1723) microscopic studies of comparative ocular anatomy in humans, mammals, birds, and fish. His contributions in anatomical microscopy to ocular biology has been overshadowed by his prolific work and first observations of protists and bacteria, spermatozoa, red blood cells, and dental plaque. Leeuwenhoek's Delftian optical and artisanal heritage more than compensated for any lack of formal scientific training and, in keeping with his Royal Society ethos, shone light onto the "fabric of the eye" in order to better understand its function, which he had extended with his microscopes. He has provided the earliest known microscopic descriptions of the tear film, eyelids, cornea, aqueous, crystalline lens, vitreous, retina, optic nerve, and photoreceptor--as well as the first descriptions of cataract, vitreous floaters, and corneal pathology. His description of the aquatic mammal Cetacean eye foreshadowed an understanding of the optical complexities of aerial and submarine vision of whales. His observations challenged classical teaching at that time, particularly in relation to the optic nerve.
我们回顾了安东尼·范·列文虎克（1632 - 1723）对人类、哺乳动物、鸟类和鱼类眼部解剖结构的微观研究。他在解剖显微镜学领域对眼生物学的贡献，因他在原生生物、细菌、精子、红细胞和牙菌斑方面的大量工作及首次观察而黯然失色。列文虎克的代尔夫特光学和手工技艺传承弥补了他缺乏正规科学训练的不足，并且，秉持英国皇家学会的精神，他用显微镜照亮了“眼睛的结构”，以便更好地理解其功能。他提供了已知最早的关于泪膜、眼睑、角膜、房水、晶状体、玻璃体、视网膜、视神经和光感受器的微观描述，以及白内障、玻璃体漂浮物和角膜病理学的首次描述。他对水生哺乳动物鲸类眼睛的描述，为理解鲸鱼在空气中和水下视觉的光学复杂性奠定了基础。他的观察挑战了当时的经典学说，尤其是关于视神经的学说。
