眼鏡的history

Precursors
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Detail of a portrait of Hugh de Provence, painted by Tomaso da Modena in 1352 The first suspected recorded use of a corrective lens may have been by the emperor Nero in the 1st century, who was known to watch the gladiatorial games using an emerald.[3]
Corrective lenses were said to be used by Abbas Ibn Firnas in the 9th century.[4] He had devised a way to finish sand into glass; which until this time, was secret to the Egyptians. These glasses could be shaped and polished into round rocks used for viewing - known as reading stones.
Sunglasses, in the form of flat panes of smoky quartz, protected the eyes from glare and were used in China in the 12th century or possibly earlier. However, they did not offer any corrective powers.[5]

[edit] Invention of eyeglasses
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The 'Glasses Apostle' by Conrad von Soest (1403) Around 1284 in Italy, Salvino D'Armate is credited with inventing the first wearable eye glasses.[6] The earliest pictorial evidence for the use of eyeglasses, however, is Tomaso da Modena's 1352 portrait of the cardinal Hugh de Provence reading in a scriptorium. Another early example would be a depiction of eyeglasses found north of the Alpes in an altarpiece of the church of Bad Wildungen, Germany, in 1403.
Many theories abound for to whom the credit for the invention of traditional eyeglasses belong. In 1676, Francesco Redi, a professor of medicine at the University of Pisa, wrote that he possessed a 1289 manuscript whose author complains that he would be unable to read or write were it not for the recent invention of glasses. He also produced a record of a sermon given in 1305, in which the speaker, a Dominican monk named Fra Giordano da Rivalto, remarked that glasses had been invented less than twenty years previously, and that he had met the inventor. Based on this evidence, Redi credited another Dominican monk, Fra Alessandro da Spina of Pisa, with the re-invention of glasses after their original inventor kept them a secret, a claim contained in da Spina's obituary record.[7]
Other stories, possibly legendary, credit Roger Bacon with the invention. Bacon is known to have made the first recorded reference to the magnifying properties of lenses in 1262.[8] His treatise De iride ("On the Rainbow"), which was written while he was a student of Robert Grosseteste, no later than 1235, mentions using optics to "read the smallest letters at incredible distances". While the exact date and inventor may be forever disputed, it is almost certainly clear that spectacles were invented between 1280 and 1300 in Italy.
These early spectacles had convex lenses that could correct the presbyopia (farsightedness) that commonly develops as a symptom of aging. Nicholas of Cusa is believed to have discovered the benefits of concave lens in the treatment of myopia (nearsightedness). However, it was not until 1604 that Johannes Kepler published in his treatise on optics and astronomy, the first correct explanation as to why convex and concave lenses could correct presbyopia and myopia.

Glasses, also called eyeglasses or spectacles are frames, bearing lenses worn in front of the eyes normally for vision correction, eye protection, or for protection from UV rays.

Modern glasses are typically supported by pads on the bridge of the nose and by temples placed over the ears. Historical types include the pince-nez, monocle, and lorgnette.

Eyeglass frames are commonly made from metal, horn or plastic. Lenses were originally made from glass, but many are now made from various types of plastic, including CR-39 or polycarbonate. These materials reduce the danger of breakage and weigh less than glass lenses. Some plastics also have more advantageous optical properties than glass, such as better transmission of visible light and greater absorption of ultraviolet light.Some plastics have a greater index of refraction than most types of glass; this is useful in the making of corrective lenses shaped to correct various vision abnormalities such as myopia, allowing thinner lenses for a given prescription. Scratch-resistant coatings can be applied to most plastic lenses giving them similar scratch resistance to glass. Hydrophobic coatings designed to ease cleaning are also available, as are anti-reflective coatings intended to improve night vision and make the wearer's eyes more visible.

Polycarbonate lenses are the lightest and most shatter-resistant, making them the best for impact protection,yet offer poor optics due to a low Abbe number of 31. CR-39 lenses are the most common plastic lenses due to their low weight, high scratch resistance, and low transparency for ultra violet and infrared radiation.

Not all glasses are designed solely for vision correction, but rather for protection, viewing visual information (such as stereoscopy) or simply just for aesthetic or fashion values. Safety glasses are a kind of eye protection against flying debris or against visible and near visible light or radiation. Sunglasses allow better vision in bright daylight, and may protect against damage from high levels of ultraviolet light.

History

Precursors

Detail of a portrait of Hugh de Provence, painted by Tomaso da Modena in 1352The first suspected recorded use of a corrective lens may have been by the emperor Nero in the 1st century, who was known to watch the gladiatorial games using an emerald.

Corrective lenses were said to be used by Abbas Ibn Firnas in the 9th century.He had devised a way to finish sand into glass; which until this time, was secret to the Egyptians. These glasses could be shaped and polished into round rocks used for viewing - known as reading stones.

Sunglasses, in the form of flat panes of smoky quartz, protected the eyes from glare and were used in China in the 12th century or possibly earlier. However, they did not offer any corrective powers.