Benito Daza de Vald\u00e9s (1591\u20131634) was a Dominican clergyman and pioneer in optics and optometry who was born in C\u00f3rdoba on March 31, 1591. Educated by his uncle, a canon of the collegiate church of San Hip\u00f3lito, Benito graduated with a degree in Arts and Philosophy in 1606 from the University of Seville. He served as a notary for the Inquisition tribunal in Seville and in 1623 published his only known work, Uso de los antoios (Use of Antoios), in which antoios refers to eyeglasses. The work reveals aspects of Daza's personal life. He suffered from serious illnesses in childhood, including lameness and \u00abstone disease.\u00bb His devotion to the Virgin of Fuensanta is expressed in the dedication, where he thanks the Virgin for the miraculous healing of his illnesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The work, divided into three books, stands out as the first systematic study of corrective lenses. Book One addresses the anatomy and properties of the eyes, discussing the essential conditions for good vision. It also classifies visual defects as natural and acquired. Book Two, \u00abOn remedies for sight through lenses,\u00bb presents ten chapters in which Daza explores the manufacture and differences between concave and convex glasses. He also addresses the magnification and reduction of images, as well as the prescription of glasses following a scale similar to the current diopter scale. Book Three consists of four dialogues between a patient, an optician, and a doctor, detailing common clinical cases in the determination of corrective lenses. It also explains how to perform cataract surgery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although Daza's work went unnoticed in his day, it was rediscovered in 1901 by the historian Von Rohr, which made other authors aware of the importance of his work in the field of corrective lenses. His contribution to optics and optometry is now recognized as a milestone in the evolution of this science. That is why the CSIC's Institute of Optics is named the Daza de Vald\u00e9s Institute in his honor.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Benito Daza de Vald\u00e9s (1591\u20131634) fue un cl\u00e9rigo dominico y pionero en \u00f3ptica y optometr\u00eda que naci\u00f3 en C\u00f3rdoba el 31 de marzo de 1591. Educado por su t\u00edo, can\u00f3nigo de la colegiata de San Hip\u00f3lito, Benito se gradu\u00f3 en Artes y Filosof\u00eda en 1606 en la Universidad de Sevilla. Ejerci\u00f3 como notario del tribunal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":41772,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[36,39],"tags":[1333],"class_list":["post-41771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-actualidad","category-cultura","tag-cientificos-catolicos"],"yoast_head":"\n