Adolf E. Fick

…of glass, was developed by Adolf Fick in 1887 to correct irregular astigmatism. The early lenses, however, were uncomfortable and could not be worn for long. Until the development of optical instruments that could measure the curvature of the cornea (the transparent surface of the eye that covers the iris…

…described by the German physiologist Adolf E. Fick in 1870, allows physicians and researchers to assess respiratory exchange—that is, how effectively oxygen is delivered from the lungs to the body’s tissues.

…governing diffusion were enunciated by Adolf Fick, who in 1856 published what is probably the first biophysics text, Die medizinische Physik (“Medical Physics”). Fick developed the laws of diffusion not from experiment but by analogy with the laws governing the flow of heat; subsequent laboratory experiments proved the analogy to…