Eye Wear

The complete history of eyewear and eyeglasses may never be known because so many tales have been told about the origin of glasses it is impossible to separate the facts from the fiction. The ancient Romans were said to have used water filled glass globes to read books, making it safe to say that humans have been looking through glass and learning about its effects on vision for many centuries.

Most people believe eyeglasses were probably first invented in Italy around 1280-1300 when it was discovered they were useful to cure just farsightedness. An Italian named Salvino Armati is credited with developing glass lenses in 1285. An Italian monk, Allesandro Spina is given credit for making the invention known to the public and by the 14th century, craftsmen in Venice were making finely ground glass disks called “lenses” due to their similarity in shape to lentil beans. The earliest lenses were convex only and when people with farsightedness learned that the little lenses with thick centers helped them see better, people quickly began wearing them. Eyewear found its way to China by the fifteenth century and by 1604 concave lenses had been invented in Europe and became the standard remedy for nearsightedness.
Eyewear has come a long way and today, eyeglasses, contacts and sunglasses help billions of men and women all over the world to see more clearly and help protect their eyes in the process. Today, contact lenses have become just as popular as eyeglasses and contacts actually do a better job of curing defective vision than standard glasses. Laser surgery procedure can now cure some vision problems, but eyewear is still very popular all over the world. Today, modern glasses can be worn for pleasure and convenience as both an aid to vision, and as a fashion accessory too.