The introduction of the electromagnet into ophthalmology. A pupil of Helmholtz, Hirschberg was one of the most voluminous writers in the field of ophthalmology. Besides his dictionary (see No. 5932) he wrote a classic history of the subject (see No. 5996) which today remains the authoritative history of ophthalmology. He founded the Centralblatt für praktische Augenheilkunde in 1877.

This monumental work remains the authoritative encyclopaedic history of ophthalmology, up to the first decade of the 20th century. Its thoroughness and critical judgment mark it as one of the greatest of all histories of scientific or medical subjects. Forms Bde. 12-15 of Graefe–Saemisch Handbuch der gesamten Augenheilkunde, 2te Aufl. Reprinted Hildesheim, G. Olms, 1977. Extensively illustrated English translation by F.C. Blodi, 11 vols. plus supplements. Bonn, J. P. Wayenborgh, 1982-.

Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.

Translation of Book III, Fan III of Avicenna's Canon pertaining to the eye and its diseases. Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.

Digital facsimile of the 1905 edition from the Internet Archive at this link.

Translated into English as The  Arabian Ophthalmologists, compiled from original texts by J. Hirschberg, J. Lippert and E. Mittwoch and translated into English, ed. M. Zafer Wafai (Riyadh: King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, 1993.)