Apparatus for generating a three-dimensional topography of a portion of a surface of an eye having at least one distinct visual feature, said apparatus comprising: A) a camera mounted on a fixed base and directed along an imaging axis for capturing two-dimensional images of the eye including the at least one distinct visual feature, B) a scanner mounted on a platform rotatable about an axis and configured for generating distance information corresponding to height distances from an internal reference to the surface of the eye at a plurality of angular positions during a scan, C) means for defining a fixed spatial relationship between said camera and said scanner, and D) a control connected to said camera and said scanner including: i) means for controlling said scanner to produce a scan consisting of multiple meridian scans corresponding to different angular positions (Pos.1, Pos.2, Pos.3) of the eye during rotation of the scanner with the platform, each meridian scan measuring a plurality of height distances at different positions along a meridian scan line during a meridian scan operation, ii) means for causing said camera to capture at least one two-dimensional image of the eye for each angular position during the scan, iii) means for storing, for the scan, the height distance information obtained by the scanner and the corresponding captured two-dimensional image of the eye from said camera, and iv) means for processing the height distance information in said storing means in combination with the two-dimensional images, wherein the two-dimensional images with corresponding meridian scans for the different angular positions of the eye are aligned to combine and reference all meridian scans to a fixed reference point in the eye to create the three-dimensional topography. A) a camera mounted on a fixed base and directed along an imaging axis for capturing two-dimensional images of the eye including the at least one distinct visual feature, B) a scanner mounted on a platform rotatable about an axis and configured for generating distance information corresponding to height distances from an internal reference to the surface of the eye at a plurality of angular positions during a scan, C) means for defining a fixed spatial relationship between said camera and said scanner, and D) a control connected to said camera and said scanner including: i) means for controlling said scanner to produce a scan consisting of multiple meridian scans corresponding to different angular positions (Pos.1, Pos.2, Pos.3) of the eye during rotation of the scanner with the platform, each meridian scan measuring a plurality of height distances at different positions along a meridian scan line during a meridian scan operation, ii) means for causing said camera to capture at least one two-dimensional image of the eye for each angular position during the scan, iii) means for storing, for the scan, the height distance information obtained by the scanner and the corresponding captured two-dimensional image of the eye from said camera, and iv) means for processing the height distance information in said storing means in combination with the two-dimensional images, wherein the two-dimensional images with corresponding meridian scans for the different angular positions of the eye are aligned to combine and reference all meridian scans to a fixed reference point in the eye to create the three-dimensional topography. i) means for controlling said scanner to produce a scan consisting of multiple meridian scans corresponding to different angular positions (Pos.1, Pos.2, Pos.3) of the eye during rotation of the scanner with the platform, each meridian scan measuring a plurality of height distances at different positions along a meridian scan line during a meridian scan operation, ii) means for causing said camera to capture at least one two-dimensional image of the eye for each angular position during the scan, iii) means for storing, for the scan, the height distance information obtained by the scanner and the corresponding captured two-dimensional image of the eye from said camera, and iv) means for processing the height distance information in said storing means in combination with the two-dimensional images, wherein the two-dimensional images with corresponding meridian scans for the different angular positions of the eye are aligned to combine and reference all meridian scans to a fixed reference point in the eye to create the three-dimensional topography.