The Evolution of Glasses

Alexa Vitovsky, Brandon Navas, Arshama Dehghan

Introduction
Glasses were invented in the early 1200s by Friar Alessandro della Spina to aid his colleagues to see the world easier than before. He had made them by carving Nimrud, a rock crystal, into a form of a convex. Originally, these were made by hand and chisel. Over the years, the product has innovated to be lightweight and easier to be worn or held; it has been an irritant to keep your arm up right wherever you go although, now it can be balanced between your ears and nose.

An Example of What Glasses Can Do

Effects on Society
Without glasses, people could not do great things like read, write or do anything that involves eyesight. If it were not for glasses to be invented, many things we can do now, could not happen.

Timeline

Lenses (1st Century A.D.)

In the first century, the roman emperor, Nero, used an emerald to view the Gladiator Games with.

Glass Glasses (1200s)

Glasses made of glass were invented by Giordano da Pisa using glass.

Rimmed (1300s)
Rimmed glasses are introduced by an unknown creator. These glasses were foldable to easily slip into your pocket, instead of holding it in your hand, or losing it. These, though were still as heavy as others.

Nose Bridge (Early 1600s)

The nose bridge was added to glasses so it would gain balance and would be less of an irritant to use.

Temples (Early 1700s)

The first glasses with temples were invented so it would be easier to wear them around and have good vision throughout the day instead of having to hold them in your hands.

Bifocals (Late 1700s)

During the late 1700s, Benjamin Franklin had invented bifocals. Bifocals have 2 types of lenses, so that you do not have to have 2 pairs of glasses at the same time.

Fashion (Early 1800 to Present)

Famous figures such as Thomas Jefferson or Napoleon began to wear glasses for fashion which erupted a new industry of glasses.

Bausch & Lomb (Early 1900s)

The US imported lenses from outer regions and created glasses, although WWI had been a problem. They created Bausch & Lomb as a solution.

CR-39 Lenses (Mid 1900s)

CR-39 lenses were introduced to be more lightweight and efficient since people did not want heavy thick glasses.

PolyCarbonate Lenses (Late 1900s)

PolyCarbonate lenses were introduced to be even more lightweight than CR-39. The pros were it would not break as easily and lighter than CR-39. The cons were it would scratch a lot and tended to be much more expensive than CR-39.

Contact Lenses
Contact lenses were first invented in 1884, but became popular in the early 1990s. Contacts are made of soft plastics that allow oxygen pass through.

Sources
http://telegraph.co.uk http://antiquespectacles.com David A. Fleishman http://faao.org Johnathan Sorlois http://www.yatesandsuddell.co.uk Zemanta http://wikipedia.org http://google.com