Why eyeglasses were invented

Glasses are a tool that provides vision to most people, regardless of prescription or eye shape. The development of glasses as a common treatment for imperfect eyesight took centuries, with many brilliant innovators paving the path to the perfect vision you get to enjoy today. Have you ever wondered about the primary technology behind spectacles?

The first inventor of wearable glasses is unknown. However, the Romans first discovered the ability to use to glass to enhance their ability to see small text, creating small magnifying glasses with spheres. The first wearable glasses known to history appeared in Italy during the 13th century. Primitive glass-blown lenses were set into wooden or leather frames or occasionally, frames made from animal horn and then held before the face or perched on the nose.

Mostly used by monks, these grew in popularity and the technology improved through the Renaissance. Artwork remains the best testament that these glasses existed, as early Renaissance paintings sometimes depict scholars using handheld frames or perch-style glasses.

Glass blowers would make lenses of different thickness based on rudimentary vision testing. This material was later used to make frame shapes that had never been seen before. In the s , glasses became more popular than ever, thanks to movie stars who wore them proudly. Even today, eyeglasses are considered one of the best fashion accessories.

New technologies for lenses, contact lenses and even frame materials continue to be developed year after year. Our vision professionals are your best reference to tell you what's new in the world of optics.

Make an appointment at an IRIS store near you to learn more about these new technologies and how they can improve your vision! The Origins of Eyeglasses The first traces of glasses, as we know them, go back as far as the 1st century.

Marketing Glasses in Italy Following the discovery of a transparent glass paste in the 14th century , lenses became more affordable, making it easier to market them outside of Venice. The Rise in Popularity of Glasses It was between and that the first eyeglasses with branches were invented, thanks to the British optician, Edward Scarlett.

These glasses, called reading aids, had a convex ground lens. The edge was made from iron, horn or wood. In general, the first glasses were used exclusively as visual aids to enable far-sighted individuals to read. Later, the first eyeglass frame temples were made by Spanish craftsmen in s. They affixed ribbons of silk or strings to the frame and looped them over the user's ears.

The new types of eyeglasses were brought to China by Spanish and Italian missionaries. Instead of making loops, the Chinese attached small metal weights to the strings. Later glasses were designed to be held in place by ribbon or by exerting pressure on the bridge of the nose, such as with pince-nez. Construction of frames also improved over the centuries, and today they are made in wide array of styles and designs. Frames are generally produced of metal or plastic, and lenses are produced of glass or plastic.

In the unbreakable lenses were invented and in a new lens were developed which combined the properties of plastic with glass. Eyeglasses Inventors - Who Invented Glasses?