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Who
Invented Eyeglasses?
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With the advent of contact lens,
eyeglasses have become quite 'uncool', but in the early
fourteenth century, they were nothing short of a miracle
to those with defective eyesight. Even before people could
understand the basics of optics and the ways lenses
behaved, they needed to know the method of grinding the
lenses to give the specific curvature.
The preparation for inventing the eye glasses began quite
early in time, with the Arabs making studies of optics and
diseases of the eye, as related to desert dwelling people.
Amongst these Islamic scholars was an outstanding
personality, Ibn al-Haytham, from Egypt. He did extensive
study on the cornea (or lens) of the eye and produced a
treatise in 1040 which, for the first time, clearly
identified the function of the cornea. Although he did do
work on how mirrors and glass lenses affect the eye, he
never was able to connect lenses with faulty eyesight. |
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By late 12th century, al-Haytham's work on optics was
widely distributed across Spain, rest of Europe, England
and translated into other languages. Many of the Arabs
were attracted to Emperor Frederick II's court in Sicily,
and there they spread the knowledge of optics. By the
thirteenth century, many European scholars were quite
familiar with his theories and had begun experimenting and
creating equipment. But it should be noted that this
production of lenses was on a very small scale.
For a long time the manufacture of quality, clear glass
was monopolized by the glass workers of Constantinople.
They were highly skilled and knowledgeable of the art so
in the Fourth Crusade (which was around 1204 AD), when the
Venetians raised an attack against Constantinople and
carried away the glass workers, they were able to learn
all the tricks of the trade. The Venetians improved their
techniques and it is no wonder that by the middle of the
thirteenth century, Venetian glass had gained a high
reputation in Europe. Soon after, they were also able to
make their mark in creating the first eye glasses. They
were successful in blending the theoretical understanding
of optics and the ability to create suitable and
inexpensive lenses.
This amazing discovery spread throughout Europe and was
carried on to the Cape of Good Hope (Chinese people)
through trading and business and then to the rest of the
world. Today, it has become a very common article but
remains one of the greatest discoveries to provide comfort
and relief to humanity. |
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