Julius Hirschberg was a German ophthalmologist and medical historian

Historian

A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...

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In 1875, Hirschberg coined the term "campimetry" for the measurement of the visual field

Visual field

The term visual field is sometimes used as a synonym to field of view, though they do not designate the same thing. The visual field is the "spatial array of visual sensations available to observation in introspectionist psychological experiments", while 'field of view' "refers to the physical...

 on a flat surface (tangent screen test) and in 1879 he became the first to use an electromagnet

Electromagnet

An electromagnet is a type of magnet in which the magnetic field is produced by the flow of electric current. The magnetic field disappears when the current is turned off...

 to remove metallic foreign bodies

Foreign body

A foreign body is any object originating outside the body. In machinery, it can mean any unwanted intruding object.Most references to foreign bodies involve propulsion through natural orifices into hollow organs....

 from the eye

Human eye

The human eye is an organ which reacts to light for several purposes. As a conscious sense organ, the eye allows vision. Rod and cone cells in the retina allow conscious light perception and vision including color differentiation and the perception of depth...

. In 1886, he developed the Hirschberg test

Hirschberg test

In the fields of optometry and ophthalmology, the Hirschberg test, also Hirschberg corneal reflex test, is a screening test that can be used to assess whether a person has strabismus ....

 for measuring strabismus

Strabismus

Strabismus is a condition in which the eyes are not properly aligned with each other. It typically involves a lack of coordination between the extraocular muscles, which prevents bringing the gaze of each eye to the same point in space and preventing proper binocular vision, which may adversely...

. His series Geschichte der Augenheilkunde (History of Ophthalmology) written from 1899 to 1917 is considered by some to be one of his greatest achievements.

Pubmed

• Snyder C. "Julius Hirschberg, the neglected historian of ophthalmology." Am J Ophthalmol. 1981 May;91(5):664-76. PMID 7015867 .
• Biro I. "[In memory of Julius Hirschberg.]" Orv Hetil. 1976 Aug 8;117(32):1953-4. PMID 785335.
• Koelbing HM. "[Julius Hirschberg (1843-1925), ophthalmologist and medical historian (author's transl).]" Klin Monatsbl Augenheilkd. 1976 Jan;168(1):103-8. PMID 789990.