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World Service,15 Jan 1999,4 mins

Invention of the Soft Contact Lens

My Century

Available for over a year

Czech chemist Professor Otto Wichterle, invented the soft contact lens, but always preferred to wear glasses. His colleague Pavel Kratochvil recalls that at first "Professor Wichterle invented a material without knowing exactly what it would be good for." Wichterle began by experimenting with making soft contact lenses in his kitchen at home. Picture: Contact lens, Credit: Thinkstock

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