'Thanks for helping world see eye to eye!': Google Doodle pays tribute to inventor of contact lens

Today the October 27 marks the 108th birth anniversary of Czech chemist Otto Wichterle known to have invented the modern soft contact lens. Google is paying tributes to the genius with a unique doodle. Google wrote, "Happy birthday, Otto Wichterle - thanks for helping the world see eye to eye!"

The Google Doodle shows Otto Wichterle holding up a single piece of contact lens upon his fingertips, while the light is reflected to form the Google logo in the background, as representative of eyesight.

According to Google through their doodle, they want to enlighten netizens with fresh insight on the scientist Otto Wichterle, regardless of whether they themselves are contact lens users. An estimated 140 million people around the world use contact lenses.

Who is Otto Wichterle

Scientist Otto Wichterle was born on October 27, 1913, at Prostĕjov in the Czech Republic.

He earned his doctorate in organic chemistry in 1936 from the Prague Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT).

Otto Wichterle taught as a professor at his alma mater during the 1950s while developing an absorbent and transparent gel for eye implants. 

In 1961 he produced the very first soft contact lenses with a DIY apparatus. Wichterle himself wore spectacles.

This was made of a child's erector set, a bicycle light battery, a phonograph motor and homemade glass tubing and moulds.

This was the earliest version of the modern contact lenses that are now used.

Wichterle's genius is also reflected in the fact that he invented the contact lens at his home where he was refining hydrogel development.

He laid the foundation for state-of-the-art medical technologies such as 'smart' biomaterials, which are used to restore human connective tissues.

Otto Wichterle also innovated bio-recognizable polymers which have inspired a new standard for drug administration.

Wichterle was elected the first President of the Academy of the Czech Republic, following the country's establishment in 1993.