Jonas Friedenwald, Eugene Wolff, and the Two Books That Helped Bridge the Specialty Gap.

Background: Eugene Wolff (1896-1954) and Jonas S. Friedenwald (1897-1955) were life-long students and educators of anatomic pathology and ophthalmology. Both contributed toward narrowing the gap between the two rapidly diverging specialties of pathology and ophthalmology. Friedenwald in 1929 and Wolff in 1934 each published textbooks of ophthalmic pathology that influenced medical education for decades to come.

Summary: Friedenwald's and Wolff's introduced ophthalmologists in training and practice to anatomic pathology, while familiarizing pathologists with the nature of ocular disease. Both books appeared at the time when anatomic pathology was departing from its mostly academic roles in education and research to assume more active participation in clinical care by establishing diagnoses through biopsy.

Key Messages: Wolff and Friedenwald dedicated their careers to teaching the art and science of anatomic pathology to clinical ophthalmologists. Their efforts helped anchor ophthalmology to the traditions of mainstream medicine.