William Bates (physician)

William Bates
Born	(1860-12-23)December 23, 1860
Died	July 10, 1931(1931-07-10) (aged 70)
Nationality	American
Fields	Ophthalmology
Alma mater	Columbia University
Known for	Developing the Bates method

William Horatio Bates (December 23, 1860 – July 10, 1931) was an American physician who practiced ophthalmology and developed what became known as the Bates Method for better eyesight,^[1] an educational method intended to improve vision by undoing a supposed habitual strain to see. The efficacy of the method is questionable, and his theory that the eye does not focus by changing the power of the lens, but rather by elongating the eyeball, through use of the extraocular oblique muscles, was contradicted by mainstream ophthalmology and optometry of his day and still is today.^[2][3]

Biography

Bates graduated A.B. from Cornell University in 1881 and received his medical degree at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1885. He formulated a theory about vision health, and published the book Perfect Sight Without Glasses in 1920, and the magazine Better Eyesight from 1919 to 1930. Parts of Bates' approach to correcting vision disorders were based on psychological principles, which were contrary to many of the medical theories of the time and remain so. The Bates Method still enjoys some limited acceptance as a modality of alternative medicine.

Bates treated many patients, who claimed to have been cured of vision defects, especially myopia. This brought him into conflict with his peers. He defended himself by claiming that other physicians were in thrall to the establishment.

Bates' publications

Because the copyrights have expired, the original version of Perfect Sight Without Glasses (or The Cure of Imperfect Sight by Treatment Without Glasses) is now in the public domain. In 1943 an abridged version was published under the title Better Eyesight Without Glasses, which removed some of the most controversial points, such as the claim that "perfectly remembering black"^[4] is a suitable substitute for anaesthesia, and recommendations to look at the sun.^[2] It is as natural for the eye to see as it is for the mind to acquire knowledge, and any effort in either case is not only useless, but defeats the end in view.^[5]

Bates' mental health

Bates appears to have suffered from a strange episode of amnesia (or possibly psychogenic fugue), referred to in his obituary,^[6] perhaps wrongly as 'a strange form of aphasia'. In 1902 he disappeared, was found, and then disappeared again, only to reappear after his second wife, who searched in vain for him, had died. This episode was said to have given him a particular interest in memory, perhaps influencing the direction of his work. He was married three times, having been widowed twice. In 1928, he married his long-time personal assistant Emily C. Lierman. Bates cured his own 'stone-hard presbyopia' In his 1920 book Perfect Sight Without Glasses, Dr. Bates writes about his own eyesight improvement. He had been told by various eye specialists that his lens was "as hard as a stone" and that "no one can do anything for you." But through studying his own case intensively, and finding a way to not strain his eyes when wanting to read, he regained an accommodative range of 14 inches. This means he had regained the ability to focus on objects between 4 and 18 inches from his eyes, so he was no longer suffering with presbyopic blur.

Discovery of the medical use of adrenaline

Bates did other research. He discovered the astringent and haemostatic properties of the substance produced by the suprarenal gland, and its value in medicine, especially in surgeries. The substance would later be commercialized as adrenaline.^[7]

References

Wikisource has original works written by or about: William Horatio Bates