Why do we call prescription lenses as “eye glasses”?

How eye glasses were invented?

Reading stones acted like eye glasses were discovered around 1000 A.D. They were developed to help monks with presbyopia in reading and writing, by using convex shaped glass that magnified the image of the targeted object.

Abbas Ibn Firnas developed a way to produce very clear glass and said to be the first to use corrective lenses in the 9th century, shaped and polished into round rocks.

The Venetians started to make reading stones that were placed on the reading material. They learnt to produce the newer technology that could be held in front of the eye instead of being onto the text. The first pair of eye glasses with its frame and sidebars were made in Pisa, Italy estimated in 1268.

Tomasso da Modena’s paintings in 1352 represent the earliest artistic representation. His paintings showed monks reading and copying manuscripts, one using magnifying glass while another had that perched on his nose.

By 15th century, Florence, Italy was leader in sale, production and innovation of high quality eye glasses. It was documented that vision declined after the age of 30 and the concept of five-years eye prescriptions were made in Florence. Prescriptions were changed every five years as the users aged, exported from Italy to other parts of Europe in later years.

Germany became a major player in the history of eye glasses in the 17th century, started to produce one of the finest looking frames for eye glasses, while Italy continued to produce the best quality.

The construction of frames for eye glasses also evolved. The earliest ones were made from quartz lenses. These were designed to be held in place either by hand or by placing on the nose ( pince-nez). However, they did not fit well due to difference in shape and sizes of the nose.

The modern style of eye glasses was developed in 1730, when London optician Edward Scarlett devised rigid side pieces that rest atop the ears. Such design is used till today.

Benjamin Franklin, the American scientist who suffered from both myopia and presbyopia, developed the bifocal lens in 1784 after he got tired of switching between distances and reading.  Later in 1825 British astronomer George Airy developed astigmatic correction too!

By the 20th century, eye glasses were produced to be functional, comfortable, and stylish to fit for lighter weight framed and frameless eyewear.