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- For the politician, see William H. Bates. For the ship named after the same, see USS William H. Bates (SSN-680).
William Horatio Bates (December 23, 1860 - July 10, 1931) was an American physician who developed what is now known as the Bates Method of eye exercises. He graduated A.B. from Cornell University in 1881 and received his medical degree at the college of physicians and surgeons in 1885. As an ophthalmologist, he formulated a theory about vision health, and published the book Perfect Sight Without Glasses in 1920. Parts of Bates' approach to correcting vision disorders were based on psychological principles, which was contrary to many of the medical theories of the time. The Bates Method, which was promoted by the famous writer Aldous Huxley, author of 'Brave new world' still enjoys some 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 a conflict with his peers. Bates says: ('Perfect Sight' chapter 3 *)
He concludes the chapter:
Strange episode
Bates appears to have suffered from a strange episode of amnesia, referred to in his obituary, perhaps wrongly as 'a strange form of aphasia'. 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.
Discoverer of adrenaline
Bates did serious research, and is famous for discovering a substance produced by the suprarenal gland which later would be commercialized as adrenaline. His report was published in the New York Medical Journal in May, 1886.
External links
Free books and articles by Dr. W. H. Bates
Biographies
1860 births | 1931 deaths | Ophthalmologists
William Bates | William Horatio Bates | William Horatio Bates
"William Bates"