Ophthalmologists have been interested in the surgical correction of refractive errors for over 300 years. Due to the high risks of ocular surgery, operative techniques for the surgical correction of refractive errors have been slower to develop. In the last 30 years refractive surgery has become an acceptable alternative to glasses or contact lenses for a large number of patients and surgeons. Sato brought anterior and posterior keratotomy to clinical practice in the early 1940s. Based on Sato's results, Fydorov and Durnev established the value of radial keratotomy in the correction of myopia in 1977. Barraquer began in 1949 to develop keratomileusis which uses the cryolathe to shape the cornea and alter its refractive power. Barraquer described the use of anterior chamber IOLs in 1959. The term photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) was introduced in 1988. LASIK was introduced, designed, developed in 1988; it was the marriage of lamellar corneal techniques, and the excimer laser. A wide spectrum of approaches is being investigated for the surgical correction of presbyopia. These approaches can be classified into scleral, corneal, and lens surgeries.