Franciscus Donders

Franciscus Cornelis Donders ( born May 27, 1818 in Tilburg, Noord-Brabant, † March 24, 1889 in Utrecht ) was a Dutch physiologist and pioneer in the field of ophthalmology.

Donders taught in Utrecht from 1847 as a professor, first as an ophthalmologist ( until 1862 ), then as a physiologist. His scientific contributions on the eye movements, on the use of cylindrical and prismatic glasses with vision problems, about the accommodation and the distinction of presbyopia of hyperopia ( farsightedness and presbyopia ) were pioneering contributions to research on the eye. The correction of astigmatism by cylindrical lenses goes back to Donders. As a result, he advocated that the eyeglass prescription of ophthalmologists performed and no longer itinerant traders were left. In 1863 he designed the first tonometer, a device for measuring intraocular pressure. Along with Hermann von Helmholtz and Albrecht von Graefe Frans Cornelis Donders applies as the founder of modern ophthalmology.

As a result of his physiological work, the pleural cavity is (now rare) also referred to as " Donders - space" that there existing vacuum ( as " intrapleural pressure") accordingly as " Donders Print".