À la recherche de la vision normale

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the debates on the norms defining the normal eye and the normal vision during the second half of the 19th century. It focuses in particular on the creation of modern eye charts, one of the most popular instruments for measuring visual acuity. It starts by outlining the historical framework in which modern visual charts were developed, and describing the characteristics of the most widespread amongst them; secondly, it analyze the debates that took place among the ophthalmologists about the definition of the normal eye and the normal vision, and shows the discrepancy between medical definitions and clinical studies; finally, it considers the measurement of the eyesight by focusing, on the one hand, on physicians’ will to create a normative framework for the measurement of the visual acuity and, on the other, on the obstacles that opposed the achievement of this goal.

Keywords

• history of ophthalmology
• visual acuity
• senses history
• 19th century social history of medicine