Alexander Duane

Alexander Duane (September 1, 1858 - June 10, 1926) was an American ophthalmologist who was a native of Malone, New York. He studied medicine at the College of Physicians and Surgeons (today the medical school of Columbia University). In 1881 he became an intern at the New York Hospital under German-born ophthalmologist Hermann Jakob Knapp (1832-1911), and in 1884 started his ophthalmological practice in New York. He was with the U.S. Navy during the Spanish-American War, and for a brief period of time taught classes at Cornell University.

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Duane is remembered for contributions made in the study of the eye and vision, including aspects such as refraction, accommodation and squint. He also performed extensive analysis concerning movement of the extraocular muscles, and in 1897 published an important treatise titled "A new classification of the motor anomalies of the eye".

Duane translated Austrian ophthalmologist Ernst Fuchs' ophthalmic textbook, which first appeared in English in 1903 under the title of Fuchs Textbook of Ophthalmology and later ran into eight editions. Duane's name is associated with a few medical eponyms, including Duane's parallax test, Duane's refraction syndrome and Duane's prism test for latent squint.

References

• Ophthalmology Hall of Fame, Alexander Duane