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Adolf Eugen Fick
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Adolf Eugen Fick (born 3 September 1829, in Kassel, Germany; died 21 August 1901, in Blankenberge, Flanders) was a German physiologist usually credited with the invention of contact lenses. He earned an 1851 doctorate at Marburg in medicine.
In 1855 he introduced Fick's law of diffusion, which governs the diffusion of a gas across a fluid membrane. In 1870 he was the first to devise a technique for measuring cardiac output, called the Fick Principle. In 1887 he constructed and fitted what was to be considered the first successful model of a contact lens: an afocal scleral contact shell made from heavy brown glass, which he tested first on rabbits, then on himself, and lastly on a small group of volunteers. His idea was advanced independently by several innovators in the years that followed.
Fick managed to double-publish his law of diffusion, as it applied equally to physiology and physics. His work led to the development of the Direct Fick method for measuring Cardiac Output.
- The Virtual Laboratory: Fick, Adolf Eugen. URL accessed 5 February 2006.
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Fick, Adolf Eugen |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | German physiologist, inventor of contact lenses and Fick's law of diffusion |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 3 September 1829 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Kassel, Germany |
| DATE OF DEATH | 21 August 1901 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Blankenberge, Flandern |
