Bifocal Reading Glasses and Their Technological Development
The United States man of scientific discipline, Benjamin Franklin, who endured both myopia as well as presbyopia, invented bifocals in 1784 to avoid needing to often alternate between 2 frames of glasses.
The first lens pair for repairing astigmia were manufactured by the British stargazer George Airy in 1825.
In the history of reading bifocals, the building of eyeglass frames also progressed. In early stages glasses were contrived to be either kept in place with your hand or by maintaining force on the bridge of the nose. Girolamo Savonarola advised that oculars could be held in place with a ribbon passed over the subject’s head, which in turn was fastened by the weight of a hat.
Entering modern bifocal history, the contemporary fashion of bifocal spectacles supported by temples passing over the ears, was produced in 1727 by the British lens creator Edward Scarlett. These designs were not at once prosperous, however, and assorted styles with attached handles like “scissors-glasses” and lorgnettes remained fashionable throughout the eighteenth and into the early nineteenth century.
In the early twentieth century, Moritz von Rohr at Zeiss made the Zeiss Punktal spherical point-focus lens system which dominated the eyeglass lens domain for several years.
Despite the rising fame of contacts and laser restorative eye surgery, spectacles remain quite common, as their engineering has continued to improve. For example, it’s currently possible to buy frames constituted of special memory metal alloys that return to their correct configuration after being bent. Other frames have spring-loaded hinges.
Glasses have come a long way, haven’t they? In fact, today you can even buy bi focal sunglasses.
Many of these modern contraptions are also distinctly better able to resist the rigors of everyday wear as well as the occasional accident. Modern frames are likewise ofttimes constructed from solid, light-weight materials like titanium alloys that weren’t obtainable in earlier days.
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