OTTO WICHTERLE
Name: Otto Wichterle
Born: 27 October 1913
Otto Wichterle (27 October 1913 in Prostějov in Austria-Hungary, now in the
Czech Republic - 18 August 1998) was a Czech chemist and inventor, best known
for his invention of modern contact lenses.
After finishing high school in Prostějov, Wichterle chose science for his career
and began to study at the Chemical and Technological Faculty of the Czech
Technical University (now the independent Institute of Chemical Technology in
Prague). He graduated in 1936 and stayed at the university until further
activity was blocked by the Protectorate regime in 1939. However, Wichterle was
able to join the research institute at Baťa's works in Zlín and continue his
scientific work. There he led the technical preparation of plastics, namely
polyamide and caprolactam. In 1941, Wichterle's team invented the procedure to
throw and spool polyamide thread thus making the first Czechoslovak synthetic
fiber under the name silon (the invention came independently of the original
American nylon procedure in 1938). Wichterle was imprisoned by the Gestapo in
1942 but was released after a few months.
After World War II, Wichterle returned to the university, specializing in
organic chemistry and was active in teaching and writing a textbook of organic
chemistry. In 1952 he was made the dean of the newly established Institute of
Chemical Technology in Prague. However, six years later, in 1958, he was
expelled from it in one of the political purges held by the communist
chairmanship of the institute. A year later, he became the chief of the new
Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences (CSAS),
which he joined in 1955. In the institute, he planned to continue his research
on the polymerization of lactams and on the use of thinly cross-linking
hydrogels that he had patented earlier, in 1953, together with Drahoslav Lím. As
the institute was only being constructed at that time, Wichterle carried out the
first experiments at home. By late 1961 he succeeded in producing the first four
hydrogel contact lenses on a home-made apparatus built using a children's
building kit (Merkur). Thus, he invented a new way of manufacturing the lenses
using a centrifugal casting procedure. The CSAS inexplicably, and without
Wichterle's knowledge, sold the patent rights to the United States National
Patent Development Corporation (and later even consented to cancellation of the
licence agreements). Actual mass production of contact lenses took place mostly
abroad, mainly in the United States.
In 1970, Wichterle was expelled again from his position in the institute, this
time for signing the "Two Thousand Words" — a manifesto asking for the
continuation of the democratization process begun in 1968 during the Prague
Spring. Punishment by the regime included removing him from his executive
positions and making his research more and more difficult mainly by cutting off
contacts from abroad and limiting his teaching opportunities. Full recognition
did not come until the Velvet Revolution in 1989. In 1990, he was made president
of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences till the dissolution of Czechoslovakia
and was the honorary president of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic
after that.
The asteroid number 3899 was named after Wichterle in 1993. Furthermore, a high
school in Ostrava (in the district of Poruba) in the Czech Republic was named
after him in September 1, 2006.
Name: Otto Wichterle
Born: 27 October 1913
Otto Wichterle (27 October 1913 in Prostějov in Austria-Hungary, now in the
Czech Republic - 18 August 1998) was a Czech chemist and inventor, best known
for his invention of modern contact lenses.
After finishing high school in Prostějov, Wichterle chose science for his career
and began to study at the Chemical and Technological Faculty of the Czech
Technical University (now the independent Institute of Chemical Technology in
Prague). He graduated in 1936 and stayed at the university until further
activity was blocked by the Protectorate regime in 1939. However, Wichterle was
able to join the research institute at Baťa's works in Zlín and continue his
scientific work. There he led the technical preparation of plastics, namely
polyamide and caprolactam. In 1941, Wichterle's team invented the procedure to
throw and spool polyamide thread thus making the first Czechoslovak synthetic
fiber under the name silon (the invention came independently of the original
American nylon procedure in 1938). Wichterle was imprisoned by the Gestapo in
1942 but was released after a few months.
After World War II, Wichterle returned to the university, specializing in
organic chemistry and was active in teaching and writing a textbook of organic
chemistry. In 1952 he was made the dean of the newly established Institute of
Chemical Technology in Prague. However, six years later, in 1958, he was
expelled from it in one of the political purges held by the communist
chairmanship of the institute. A year later, he became the chief of the new
Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences (CSAS),
which he joined in 1955. In the institute, he planned to continue his research
on the polymerization of lactams and on the use of thinly cross-linking
hydrogels that he had patented earlier, in 1953, together with Drahoslav Lím. As
the institute was only being constructed at that time, Wichterle carried out the
first experiments at home. By late 1961 he succeeded in producing the first four
hydrogel contact lenses on a home-made apparatus built using a children's
building kit (Merkur). Thus, he invented a new way of manufacturing the lenses
using a centrifugal casting procedure. The CSAS inexplicably, and without
Wichterle's knowledge, sold the patent rights to the United States National
Patent Development Corporation (and later even consented to cancellation of the
licence agreements). Actual mass production of contact lenses took place mostly
abroad, mainly in the United States.
In 1970, Wichterle was expelled again from his position in the institute, this
time for signing the "Two Thousand Words" — a manifesto asking for the
continuation of the democratization process begun in 1968 during the Prague
Spring. Punishment by the regime included removing him from his executive
positions and making his research more and more difficult mainly by cutting off
contacts from abroad and limiting his teaching opportunities. Full recognition
did not come until the Velvet Revolution in 1989. In 1990, he was made president
of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences till the dissolution of Czechoslovakia
and was the honorary president of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic
after that.
The asteroid number 3899 was named after Wichterle in 1993. Furthermore, a high
school in Ostrava (in the district of Poruba) in the Czech Republic was named
after him in September 1, 2006.