Born at Landskrona, Sweden, Gullstrand was professor (1894–1927) successively of eye therapy and of optics at the University of Uppsala.

He applied the methods of physical mathematics to the study of optical images and of the refraction of light in the eye.

Gullstrand is noted also for his research on astigmatism[1] and for improving the ophthalmoscope and corrective lenses for use after removal of a cataract from the eye.

While serving on the committee in 1921, he used his position to block Albert Einstein, whose 14 nominations were far more than any other scientist, from receiving a Nobel Prize in Physics for his theory of relativity, which Gullstrand believed to be wrong.

[2] His fifty-page report stated, "Einstein's work is not useful enough for the human race...we should wait for measurable evidence.”[3] This was in conflict with earlier statements in the report, that the bending of light measured during a solar eclipse and the precession of the orbit of Mercury, were inconclusive, since the results might not be valid or explained by some other phenomenon.