Info about Eyewear
History of spectacles
Spectacles first appeared around about one thousand years ago. Scientists studying the properties of light noticed that they could refocus light through a glass lens. Soon after this discovery, people started to fashion pieces of glass into wearable lenses that could help people see more clearly. At this time the technology was not very advanced, so the spectacles that people wore were not the slick, state of the art ones we see today.
Around about 1200 AD, people began to write about spectacles as a way to help people see better. Some of these writings have been preserved to this day. Around this period, the method for making spectacles changed. People began to blow glass into shape to achieve the desired refraction effect.
The first frames appeared around this period too. These were generally made out of bone - a far cry from the metal or plastic frames you would wear these days. Not long after this, however, metal frames did start to appear on the market. It should be noted, though, that these frames were designed to be held up by your hand in front of your eyes. There were no frames that sat comfortably on your face in those days.
In the 18th century, rigid frames that sat on a person's face finally appeared. These were first made in England. Before that, the Chinese had experimented with hands-free frames by balancing weights behind people's ears, but no one had mastered a convenient and comfortable way to hang frames on a person's face.
Bifocals were invented by Benjamin Franklin towards the end of the 18th century, thus allowing people who are both near and far sighted to see clearly without needing to change their spectacles constantly.
These days spectacles are made in sophisticated laboratories to a great degree of precision. This allows you to get spectacles that give you almost perfect sight, even if your vision is normally quite poor.
For more fascinating stories about spectacles, check out www.spectacleframes.org