When was spectacles discovered

Perhaps the man himself had produced one already, or it may have been amongst the thousands of pounds worth of equipment that Bacon was in the privileged position to purchase in furtherance of his studies?

It is dangerous to assume, however, that the 'inventor' of spectacles had any theoretical knowledge of physical optics at all. Early references to spectacles are notoriously suspect. Sometimes they have only been recorded years after the events described. Other references have been interpreted as meaning what we understand as spectacles, but those interpretations could be mistaken.

In a priest named Nicholas Bullet is alleged to have used spectacles whilst signing an agreement. By De Cristalleris , a chapter of the by-laws of the Venetian guilds prohibits the use of ordinary white glass instead of crystal, in order to keep standards high.

Further Venetian State decrees of and refer to roidi da ogli as well as reading lenses Latin: vitreos ab oculis ad legendum. Whilst this may not mean spectacles as we would understand them, the improvements in lens-making technology in the area of Venice was certainly crucial to their development.

The pictures show the front of the church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence and the present pulpit. In this church Giordano da Rivalto, a Dominican friar from Pisa, renowned for his popular preaching, delivered a Lent sermon on 23 February , the wording of which deserves close scrutiny.

Celebrating the ingenuity of mankind, he stated in translation : 'It is not yet twenty years since there was found the art of making spectacles' Italian: occhiali This could mean that spectacles were known to him to have been around since or maybe , or indeed an even later date, if the twenty-year mark had not yet been reached.

He referred to a 'new art' and it is now generally accepted that the Friar's next words can be translated 'I have seen the man who first invented and created it and I have talked to him'. It seems unlikely, however, that there was ever one Damascus moment when the art of making spectacles was suddenly 'found'; the remark could refer to the development of one particularly successful method of manufacturing a device that was still in its infancy and may have been calculated to flatter a patron.

It is also unclear to what extent Giordano would have been aware of developments outside of the Florentine sphere of influence. The manuscript sermons of Friar Giordano remain the property of the sisters of St Catherine at San Gaggio and are preserved at the Mediceo-Laurenziana library where, no doubt, they will continue to be the source of controversy.

In Bernard de Gordon's Lilium medicinae written in Montpellier reported that an eye lotion collyrium was so effective that it allowed the elderly to read small letters 'without spectacles' sine ocularibus , however these words come from the printed version first issued in the late fifteenth century the College possesses a slightly later edition of and the original manuscript's oculus berillinus or sine oculo berillion may just refer to a single lens or a magnifying glass.

Bernard was a French physician, possibly of Scottish descent, who had studied medicine at Salerno, Italy but was now teaching in France. His career is proof that academics could travel widely and potentially encounter new technologies in various lands. In Arnold of Villanova's On Preserving Youth and Retarding Old Age echoed Aristotle by saying an old man would see as well as a young man if he had a youthful eye.

As these glasses became more popular, the Italian creations spread throughout Europe, mostly available to the wealthy. Because scholarship was a prized attribute during the Renaissance, glasses were status symbols of intelligence and prosperity. The technology might have remained stagnant for several centuries, because the next clear historical picture of spectacles comes during the s. Benjamin Franklin added to the versatility of glasses by inventing the bifocal lens, which allowed a person with both near and far-sighted affectation to use one pair of glasses instead of two.

He did this at first by cutting lenses in half and putting them together into one frame. Some men did not enjoy wearing glasses full time, so these were the answer: pocket glasses that could be folded up on a hinge like a pair of scissors.

As the 19th century dawned, glasses were still handcrafted and not available to everyone. But the industrial revolution was right around the corner, and mass production of both frames and lenses made it much simpler for working men and women to obtain the necessary eye correction.

The early s also saw the introduction of peculiar cylindrical lenses for correcting astigmatism. With lens technology and accurate prescriptions becoming ever more affordable during the s, the s saw a trend toward making glasses fashionable and stylish. Instead of making loops, the Chinese attached small metal weights to the strings.

In Optician Edward Scarlett designed rigid temples that rest atop the wearer's ears. Glass, plastic or polycarbonate are lens materials for glasses.

Glass was the original material for spectacles because it has great optical clarity, but the glass lenses can be very heavy in stronger prescriptions. Plastic lenses are much lighter than glass but they are prone to easily being scratched. The lightest and thinnest lens material for glasses is polycarbonate, also called CR It is believed that approximately 64 percent of the adult population in America wear glasses while Incorrect eyeglasses may do harm to your eyes, so lenses should be prescribed by an ophthalmologist or optometrist and made by a skilled optician.

History of Eyeglasses and Sunglasses The inventor of the first spectacle lenses is unknown. Glasses History The first vision aid, called a reading stone, was invented around AD. Much like one of their alternative uses today, the first documented purpose of sunglasses was to shield facial expressions from public view, instead of shielding the eyes from sunlight. The Inuits and ancient Chinese can take credit for inventing sunglasses.

In the 12th century, Chinese sunglasses were made from panes of smoky quartz used to dim the light. Inuits used walrus ivory to create goggles with small slits to peer through. Sunglasses similar to what we wear today can be traced back to 18th century English optician James Ayscough, who originally created spectacles with tinted lenses, which he thought could improve vision.

One of the first concepts of sunglasses dates to the 12th century, when court figures in China wore sunglasses with smoky quartz lenses in order to hide their facial expressions. In doing so, the judges could give the illusion of non-responsiveness to the testimonies, thereby concealing their decision until the final verdict.

The first sunglasses made for the public came to light in the 18th century, when English designer and inventor James Ayscough created eyeglasses with blue or green tints. Ayscough believed that the tint could improve vision, and he sold the shades for public use.

Though his intention wasn't to block the sun, his invention was another building block in the history of sunglass design. In the 19th century, a syphilis outbreak emerged in Europe. Yellow and brown-tinted sunglasses were prescribed to people who carried syphilis to counteract a symptom of the disease: visual sensitivity to light.

A milestone in the history of sunglasses occurred in when Foster Grant founder Sam Foster developed the first affordable sunglasses made for mass production, possible only with the advent of injection molding technology. Foster sold sunglasses on the Atlantic City Boardwalk, and his products soon gained widespread popularity in America. But those early sunglasses did not possess the technology to fully protect the eyes.

Through the mid- to late s, sunglasses continued to grow in popularity. Movies, musicians, and politicians who wore sunglasses in the public eye created a widespread consumer interest, and several other sunglass companies emerged. The science of sunglass technology continued to grow as well, as other features of mass-produced sunglasses began to materialize, including anti-reflective and anti-fog coatings, shatter- and scratch-resistant lenses, UV protection, and polarized lenses.

Ray-Ban used the polarized lens technology created by Edwin H. Land, co-founder of Polaroid.