Franciscus Donders

Who was Franciscus Donders?

Franciscus Cornelis Donders was a Dutch ophthalmologist. During his career, he was a professor of physiology in Utrecht, and was internationally regarded as an authority on eye diseases, directing the Netherlands Hospital for Eye Patients. Along with von Graefe and Helmholtz, he was one of the primary founders of scientific ophthalmology.

For several years he studied at the military medical school in Utrecht, earning his M.D. in 1840 from the University of Leiden. Following a stint as a medical officer in the Hague, he was appointed lecturer of physiology and anatomy at the Utrecht military medical school. In 1847 he became an associate professor at Utrecht University, and in 1862 attained a full professorship in physiology.

He is known for his work and research of eye disease, and was among the first practitioners of the ophthalmoscope. He is credited with invention of an impression tonometer, and for introduction of prismatic and cylindrical lenses for treatment of astigmatism.

Donders also was the first to use differences in human reaction time to infer differences in cognitive processing.