[Julius Hirschberg (1843-1925), ophthalmologist and medical historian (author's transl)]

Julius Hirschberg of Berlin was one of the most brilliant ophthalmologists of his time. As a surgeon and as the editor of the "Centralblatt für praktische Augenheilkunde" (1877-1919) he enjoyed a world-wide reputation. He devised an electrical hand magnet for the extraction of intraocular foreign bodies (1879 - see Duke-Elder, System of ophthalmology, vol. 14/I, p.616) and investigated, among many other aspects of clinical ophthalmology, the ocular manifestations of general disease (e.g. diabetes). Hirschberg's greatest achievement is his History of ophthalmology, from the ancient Egyptians down to 1900 AD ("Geschichte der Augenheikunde" 1899-1919, 9 vols., 4700 p.). Because Hirschberg mastered not only several modern languages, but also Greek, Latin and Arabic, he was able to familiarize his readers with the original thoughts or even words of the earlier authors. Belonging himself to a positivistic and optimistic generation, he based his narratian on men, facts and tangible progress. Many problems which are discussed by modern historians of science have already been masterly treated by Hirschberg; reading his "Geschichte" is still worthwhile, even for English speaking scholars.