American Journal of Physiological Optics

Historical Significance: The editor, Charles Sheard, is one of the great figures in optometry. He is known for Sheard's criterion for evaluating accommodative convergence relationships and for establishing the first 4 year optometry course at Ohio State University (OSU). He published 9 books and > 65 papers on optometry clinical subjects. He was a physicist, not an optometrist, having obtained his PhD at Princeton University. He went to OSU as an instructor in 1907 and became Professor of Applied Optics responsible for the 2 year optometry course. He argued successfully for the course to be 4 years in 1915. In 1919 he went to the Americal Optical Company and was Director of Biophysics at the Mayo Clinic from 1924 to 1949. See J Opt Soc Amer 1958; 48: 205-6 for a biography.The publisher, the American Optical Company, was established in 1833 and incorporated in 1869. It was located in Southbridge Massachusetts USA to make lenses and spectacles and it quickly grew to be a very large company that also made ophthalmic and photographic equipment.