Glasses: A Brief History of Vision Correction
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ก.ย. 2024
- The quest for perfect vision has a long history, and numerous advancements were required to provide the range of products and services that today help millions of people keep the world in focus. The history of vision correction deserves to be remembered.
This is original content based on research by The History Guy. Images in the Public Domain are carefully selected and provide illustration. As very few images of the actual event are available in the Public Domain, images of similar objects and events are used for illustration.
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Script by THG
#history #thehistoryguy #glasses
Having myopia and wearing glasses since my early childhood the one invention I praise the most was the invention of the acrylic lens. The day I went from wearing heavy "coke bottle" glasses to the fantastically light lenses was a day of pure liberation!
Truth
oh how true! Along with Vari lux lens
except coke bottle lenses have less chromatic aberration than plastic and thus sharper picture in the sides.
@@charlieangkor8649 Except people are not slide projectors. Modern non glass eyeglass lenses are a far cry from their OG ones and are more than adequate for their purpose.
I just bought my new glasses with my first set of plastic lenses in the late 1990's. I went to the farm after work and helped Brother change a bearing on the combine header. He was swinging the sledge hammer and I am holding the pipe to drive the bearing onto the shaft. He missed, and hit a glancing blow and I got hit in my left lens with an 8lb sledge hammer. The lens cracked but did not shatter and stayed in the frame. Brother knew he missed, so he was hauling back on the hammer trying to slow it down. He grabbed me, but I did not get knocked out. The new lenses saved my eye. I don't think the blow helped my brain, but that is another story.
At 9 yrs old, my mother realized that I needed glasses. I was squinting to watch TV. My eye exam diagnosis concluded that, in addition to being nearsighted, I had a condition called Keraticonis. It meant that my corneas were slowly eroding around the edges and I could expect to be legally blind by 18 or 19. At the time, the only outlook (no pun intended) was that I would need specifically created contact lenses that would ease the pebbly effect around the edges of my corneas. The disease is called binocular, meaning I had it in both eyes. At 25, the eye doctor was right, I was legally blind...in one eye. The other eye was simply near-sighted with a touch of Astigmatism. Thanks to the miracles of modern medicine, a solution had been found. I underwent a cornea transplant in 2000 that gave me back the sight in my right eye. I thank the Doctors thru history who made such a miracle possible. I also thank the young victim of a motorcycle accident for the cornea I received. Definitely history that deserves to be remembered.
Very good. We need to hear more gratitude.
Inasmuch as these treatments were given to us I would thank God too.
Can YOU see that?
@Alfred Simon I care. Likely not How you want, but I care.
My step mum noticed me squinting at the TV and... told me to stop, because I would get wrinkles. Didn't get diagnosed with auditory processing disorder until my late teens.
Amazing, I'm proud of humans.
@@VegemiteQueen1 auditory? You also have hearing issues. Ugh.
When I first joined the Military, glasses issued by the Military were often referred to as birth control glasses.
That's funny!
That's because they were so ugly!
They still are
My son recently joined the Marines and was promptly issued his very own set of BCGs. They are aptly named.
@@nonamesplease6288 I wish him well and hope for the best during his tour. Semper Fi. USMC April 1979
My school district decided to do eye exams for all students when I was in the 4th grade. The results showed that I was severely myopic (ie. 20/200 left eye; 20/270 right eye). When mom drove me home from the eye doctor with my new glasses, I was amazed that trees had twigs. I had never seen that before. I wish that I had been examined before I entered school, but they didn't do that then. My grades also shot up, now that I could see the blackboard.
You're certainly not the only one. The American Optometric Association recommends all children receive eye exams prior to starting school for that reason. Studies have shown a very high percentage of refractive error among criminals with a theory that they were unable to do well in school and were more likely to engage in criminal activity instead. Anecdotally, I've certainly noticed a correlation among my patients.
Sounds like myself when I was handed my first pair of glasses. I told my mom,"Those trees have leaves." She received her first pair when I received mine. So she just smiled. Love my mom.
I was 15 when they finally figured out how bad my vision was. I still remember seeing leaves on trees for the first time.
I felt the same after cataract surgery. I don't ever remember being able to see pine needles out the window.
I was 17 and just as amazed to this day when I look at trees.
My wife says the same thing: Leaves!
Can say as well, that leaves are the first thing I noticed.
I was about seven when I discovered leaves myself.
Excellent presentation!
As a retired inner•city middle school history teacher (30yrs), I love learning more and “seeing” your presentations.
“I see” said the blind man, as he picked up his hammer and began to saw. 😊👍👓
Interesting about potential mates w/ eyeglasses being selected. Supposedly, John Lennon didn't need glasses, but wore them, so people would see him as an intellectual or at least take him seriously. I noticed, back in the late 1970's and 1980's, that many people from poor backgrounds would buy glasses without corrective lenses to wear, when they got dressed up to go out on the town, hoping to meet a girl. They had to be stylish glasses though. When I was in the Army, they issued us "BCG's" (Birth Control Glasses), which were glasses with frames so out of style at the time, that the opposite sex wouldn't give you the time of day!
Something of a Beatles nerd checking in. Some of Lennon's glasses survive and have been tested to -7.50 to -8. He was severely nearsighted, almost "legally blind before correction". This may have informed his issues with authority. A close friend we've heard of has stated no small part of his not wearing glasses onstage helped him cope with stage fright.
@@stanwbaker Yes. Looking at pictures of John Lennon without glasses, he seemed to skwint a lot, which is a symptom of nearsightedness. I'd heard the rumor, that John didn't really need glasses from a Liverpudlian, whom I played golf with. People, even fellow Liverpudlians, must have assumed, because they didn't see him with glasses before, that he only wore them later for whatever image, which he may have been seeking, when the truth was, he probably began wearing them, once he was confident enough in himself, not to worry about it.
In wolf of wall street the character played by Jonah Hill (fictional Donnie Azof) he wore glasses with no correction to make him look more WASP
@@stanwbaker I heard those glasses just sole at auction for $250k
I love ladies in glasses. 🤓
Didn't see this coming
Nice.
I see what you did there.
Groan 🙃😀
Get some glasses
Good one!
Very interesting! I wonder about an article I read many MANY years ago, about how ancient Japanese used small bags of sand, placed on the eyelids as one slept, which would correct near-sightedness for several hours after a good night's sleep. I guess they compressed the cornea a little bit, mashing it into a more normal shape and sharpening the vision. I wonder if that's true. It wouldn't work for me; I toss & turn too much while I sleep to keep them in place.
Terrific presentation !
I knew of at least two girls in law school who wore non-corrective glasses to give them that ''intellectual'' look.
As a young marine navigation officer, I had excellent vision. In my mid-forties it started to deteriorate and I started buying those cheap reading glasses that I wore around my neck with a lanyard.
Now at 60 years of age, I couldn't get out of a parking lot without my glasses ... LOL
Thanks THG !
I am just amazed at the number of people on here who had parents who just did not believe them when they said, as children that they had trouble seeing! I have had glasses since the age of 8, when I told my mother I had problems seeing after a measles infection (which commonly affects the eyes). That was over 50 years ago. I made sure my own children had an eye test at a young age.
I've had terrible eyesight my whole life.
People that can see tend to take their eyesight for granted. They should not!
Super weird that I randomly had the thought, “I wonder when glasses were invented,” yesterday. Now I randomly find this video today.
I Never miss an episode of these brilliantly presented bite size history lessons.
its the only channel I've remained loyally subscribed to.
I've had cataract ops and laser treatment so learning the origins of them was of special interest.
Thanks THG
The commercial I got before this was for Eye correction surgery...lol. I always tell my kids how blessed they are to live in a time where they can get glasses.
I think I have listened this guy much more than I listened all my history teachers in school!
Clearly, a program pleasing to the pupils.
Love the History Guy, great show
I love your new intros. The variety is fun to see.
Excellent episode, as usual thanks for this insightful episode.
The polymath John Herschel also devised blueprints. He was the son of the astronomer William Herschel, who discovered Uranus while looking through a telescope on a street in Bath. John Herschel has 2 districts in the Eastern Cape of South Africa named after him.
Great report. But you did not mention Inuit “snow blindness eyewear”. The narrow slits in these amazing pieces of technology not only reduce the amount of light assaulting the eye from the glare of the sun reflected from the ice and snow of the arctic environment, but the narrow slits approximate the effects of squinting to improve distance visual acuity. I made a pair and was amazed at the improvement in my distance vision. Thanks for this report.
There’s a wiki about these things… I called them Ilgook. It’s an Inuit name, so there are different names depending on what part of the arctic upon which you may be focused. Just look up Inuit snow blindness glasses….
I'll keep an eye out for more videos like this.
I have been wearing glasses for so long, I can't remember when I started wearing them.
At my last examination, my Dr. told me that my eyesight is close to 20/1000.
What's your corrected visual acuity though? 20/1000 is the top of the scale and standard charts dont even go that high lmao
@@keeganwebber
I said _close to_ 20/1000
Since you are looking for topic suggestions, I have been a full time wheelchair technician (as in getting their users back on the road when their chairs break down) since 1978 and part time several years before that. I myself have seen an entire industry evolve since then through very ingenious technological advances. Is there enough information to do a video on the history of wheelchairs? I think that it is history which needs to be remembered and appreciated for the quality of life the wheelchair has brought to those who not long ago would have been shut away in institutions, walled off from the rest of society.
Although I was born with hyperopia (seriously farsighted) I have always found that I could see better when I was outside or the indoor light was bright
I've worn glasses since grade school. (I'm 72 now). since reaching 60, I've had cataracts surgery which really cleared up my vision. Now, in the last 5 years, I've developed age related wet macular degeneration, first in one eye and then the other which requires getting injections in the eyeball about every 6 or 7 weeks. Yeah, it's as creepy as it sounds. I used to be a commercial pilot but I've had to give up flying. Great episode. Thanks
I've worn glasses for farsightedness for 64 years, since I was 8 years old. My sight deteriorated slowly, requiring updated glasses for correction, which allowed me to work, without problems, as a school bus driver, until COVID, when for over a year I was not working, and I was spending a lot of time indoors. In the last couple of years, my vision has noticably worsened. This could, of course, also be age, but I've suspected it's at least in part due to my largely indoor lifestyle.
At age 66 I have worn glasses continuously since I was 5. Around age 11 optometrists and ophthalmologists "discovered" I had "lazy eye" or amblyopia although my parents & teachers knew of it since first grade. No patches or other treatments worked. To date no one has figured out how to surgically correct this problem.
That's sad. Amblyopia probably has to be treated very early on when the brain is still malleable. For me, about 30 decades your junior, it would have been at age 1-2. That's how they found out that one of my eyes was seeing diddly squat, as I kept ripping off the patches on the other one!
3:34 So convincingly he said!
It could be that our expectations and demands on eyesight are so high today as opposed to before. I have pretty severe myopia but I'm not sure I'd notice it if I were picking berries and having loads of kids. I notice it today because other people tell me what my vision should be, and because I'm expected to see road signs, tv screens, people's faces all at a distance.
Great episode!
Hello I’m watching from Australia
Ps
Love ya vids
For some reason the sound didn’t link up with the video on this on. A good episode!
Thanks, Lance. You boiled down 4 years of optometry school into a few minutes. 😎 Keep up the good work!
PS-your right temple needs to come down a couple of millimeters. 😛
With the help of one of those graphics programs that can "blur" the image, I set about to answer the question my wife put to me. What does the world look like to you? So I blurred a photo until it looked WITH glasses how it looked without glasses and showed her. She was stunned. Without glasses I would never have been able to drive. I could not recognize faces beyond 10 feet or so. 20+ years ago Lasix surgery took me from about 20/200 vision to roughly 20/18. One eye has backslid enough I can tell a slight difference, and of course my NEAR vision is getting more difficult (stupid prescription bottles printed in like 4 font...). But every day of the week and twice on Sunday I would trade my old focal range of about 0 to 8 inches to see 18 inches to the horizon.
So now it is an occasional usage of reading glasses vs every day contacts or glasses.
Big Glass to light Acrylic. Acrylic to daily wear contacts with the cookers and chemicals. Daily wear to extended wear and toss. Extended wear to Lasix.
Didn't see that coming...
A great episode history guy, thanks again.
I was reading a National Geographic. An explorer went to an unvisited tribe in the Amazon rain forest. The chief of the tribe came out with all of his regalia and sacred symbols that denoted his high office in the tribe. The chief was curious about the explorer's eye glasses and was told to try them on. The vision correction was so amazing, that the chief offered to trade all of his regalia and symbols of power for the eyeglasses. Not my uncle though. He was an immigrant from Czech Republic. He went to the eye doctor for a checkup. The doctor showed him the eye chart and asked if he could read the fifth line of the chart. My uncle replied "Read it? I know him!".
Baaad!
The history of Albert Hofmann deserves to be remembered!
Great episode once again
I, see! Enjoyed this very much. Maybe you could do a segment on cowboy boots. I sell Western boots and the boot market is a study in another side of America. Most folks think "country music," "cowboys," and/or rancher-farmers when you mention cowboy boots. The current market in my town is for half traditional and half flashy, glittery line-dancing styles for the ladies, and 2/3 traditional to 1/3 exotic for the men.
Love your shows.
Do a historical background on global pandemics.
It was Gholam Peyman MD who invented the excimer laser. I know him well. And the last part of each disorder, myopia, hyperopia, and presbyopia the "o" is a long, not short sound. I work in ophthalmology for 40+ years and have had the privilege of meeting many amazing MDs from around the world who were also inventors. Thank you for your channel. Just discovered it and am thrilled to learn the back stories on so many interesting topics.
when eyes are defocused it doesnt make a flat disk like a camer but something which looks like a spikey ball of dry weed. because the ldns doesnt have a perfect shape but a shape that produces a star. so it preserves fine details, just scrambles them around. so you can still use them to detect motion and texture properties. for the animals this is fine they dont need to read or do fine work.
Well that was eye opening.
Independent of the scholarship, which I generally accept without verification, this mans authoritative demeanor and clarity of explanation is persuasive. It is scary to think how he could devastate as easily as elucidate the truth.
There is a clear reason why he is the history guy.
Mr. Geiger, this was a fascinating video! Could you consider making one for history of drycleaning? Although, it's relatively modern, it could be very interesting
Port Chicago !!!! Needs to be remembered. Most especially during Black History Month
I well remember that in third grade, I realized I could not see writing on the blackboard from a rear desk- this happened rather quickly, and, until I was able to get glasses, I had to move to the front of the classroom. I always hated glasses- always getting foggy and dirty. Many years later I got contacts, hard at first, then soft, but, over time they all became too uncomfortable. After a few more years of using the hated spectacles, I got LASIK, and I never looked back (sorry, I couldn't resist the pun!). It's been twenty years or so, and it's wonderful- I'm still (almost) surprised when I wake up and can read the alarm clock from across the room.
Very interesting and timely because my yearly eye appointment is this afternoon
Came for the info, stayed for the criminal puns. Thank you History Guy.
This video was particularly eye-opening :)
Very cool
Ah yes, couching. Going from “Everything is grey and blurry” to “Everything is vaguely yellow and something moved somewhere”
I just scheduled my yearly eye exam yesterday.
At 3:50 the record of Hammurabi's legal code setting the prices for medical eye repair? So, pay as you can health care? On a side note, individuals who can do fine detail, close up work and individuals who can see accurately at distance would both be nesessary contributors to human communities before and after the adoption of agriculture.
Hi HG, another fascinating glimpse (did you see what I did there?) into history... Thank you!
There's one part of every video that shows a glaring problem (Sorry, I'll stop...)
It's the part where you mention that these videos are all only 10 or 15 minutes long. Please, some longer videos sometimes? Surely there must be times when the freedom & focus (I lied!) of maybe 30 minutes or even an hour long video becomes tempting?
You're definitely up to it. These Bite sized snippets are so frustrating! How about "Hats in prehistory?"
Go on, give us a treat every now & then!
You forgot to mention the design and manufactur of The Opti-Grab by Navin R. Johnson.
I think the only reason animals supposedly don't develop vision problems is that they don't have to read distant signs or do precision close-work. What would be a major vision problem for a modern human would be an unnoticeable non-issue for an animal or even a non-literate human.
just had my eye exam i was one of those children that lost a couple years as a slow learner, i did not know it when i was 6 through 7 until standard sight test in primary and then well i got better :)
LASIK surgery remains a radical procedure. Don’t let anyone kid you. The procedure is not without risks, and the negative side effects that may not manifest for years can be rather extreme.
Long ago... my sister started needing glasses.
At the next eye exam the Dr said I would need glasses in about a year.
I read something that said to do certain eye exercises and it would reduce the need for glasses.
I did not need glasses for another 40 years and even now just need glasses for reading, when the eye issue predicted was a need for glasses for long distance.
Focus close, focus far, focus close, focus far....
That simple. Will it work for any particular person? Hard to say. It seems to have worked for me.
Of course this was uploaded during 20/20.
The Battle of Blenheim was lost by a French General so short sighted that he could hardly see further than his outstretched hand and who rode straight into the English Lines early in the battle and was captured.
I see what you mean!🤓
I see what you did there.
People have NASA to thank for that eye surgery.
The laser guidance system that controls the laser, is the same system NASA designed to enable the space shuttles to dock with the space station.
How about an episode on "NASA spinoffs"(as NASA named them)?
We owe NASA quite a bit.
14:32 would be the focal point of this podcase
I've been wearing glasses for so long it's practically reflex at this point to reach for them first thing when I wake up.
I like the new opening graphics
Brilliant. A true visionary.
At the age of 4 my grandmother saw (pun intended) that I had to squint to look at what was in her hand. She told my mother it was likely I needed glasses. After I got my first pair of glasses I became He&^ on legs. Before that It was assumed I was just a quiet child. Now being able to see clearly I was totally different. Now 60 years later I still have the glasses and at times I hate them but they are still a part of me
Neat. Something you would never think about. 🤘
Dad jokes that deserve to be remembered
I don't wear glasses, but my guns do.
U really getting into these intros COOL... Keep it up
Interesting fact: Only three Presidents - Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson and Harry Truman - wore glasses in public. That's a bit strange, IMO, but kind of fascinating.
It's more than strange; it is wrong. Just a quick check via Google shows that Abraham Lincoln and Dwight Eisenhower also wore glasses in public.
@@lizj5740 Hmmm...I'm old enough to remember that Ike did wear glasses in public. Too young for Abe...thanks.
@@perihelion7798 You can see photographs of Lincoln with his glasses on the web. Here he is with glasses and son: www.antiquespectacles.com/topics/lincoln/lincoln.htm.
Glasses, in my opinion, are the single greatest invention in the history of man.
You can't read a computer screen, drive a car, read a book, operate tools and many other things without the ability to see.
thanks
The Inuit example indicates vision deterioration is linked to diet.
To think that myopia is something that just comes along or happens seems quite silly, as its a genetic disorder. Your eyes don't change shape during your life. I remember always sitting in the front row of seats at school, so I could see/read what was being written on the blackboard. It wasn't until I started playing organized sports that I realized I had a vision issue - Myiopia. My first sport was baseball and I recall batting as being the weakest part of my game, as I habitually backed away from the pitches. My father finally noticed me squinting at a sign as we were driving and suggested I get an exam. Sure enough, I was near sighted, about 20/40, which isn't much, but enough to make the pitches nearly invisible til too late. My first game w/ my new glasses and I hit two doubles and a single - I was SO thrilled! Got my first pair of glasses and at age 10 and my first set of contact lenses at 14, after saving up w/ my paper route money, cause I didn't want to look like a "nerd" or the modern day equivalent "geek." Girls didn't date those guys. lol
Most people use glasses for reading. I noticed that I had a vision problem because I could no longer read fine print. Since animals don't normally read, I guess we don' think they have vision problems (LOL). I have heard that cats are normally near-sighted. I don't know where I heard that, but I suppose some intrepid eye specialist discovered that.
interesting focus.
I remember from both the book and movie "The Name of the Rose" the main character using early eyeglasses, and then losing them for a time in connection with the solving of the murder mystery.
I would like to see an episode on castle Itter during WW2.
Why your glasses crooked?????............heh heh......love your little tid bits of history!!
My eyesight took a nose dive after I almost died of measles when I was 6 or 7. It didn’t happen right away, though, so I don’t know if it really had anything to do with it. I do have the worst myopia of any of my siblings.
Here's lookin at you. 👍🏼
My brother was large for his age. Worried that he might have vision problems, Mum took him for an exam. They asked him if he could read the first line on the standard chart. He said, 'No'. It took them a bit to figure out that he didn't 'know his ABCs' yet! (He didn't need glasses).
hehehe
You’re a visionary history guy.
Please, closed captions.
They are enabled. Sometimes it takes a while for them to generate. I apologize for any inconvenience.
Do the history of Dr Seuss and the Berenstain Bears.
Hmmm. I always figured useful lenses didn't come along until the development of clear glass. Far easier to find and to work than natural materials like rock crystal. Glass is very old, clear glass not so much. Curved mirrors are much older but tough to adapt to eyewear use. There was some debate in Galileo's day (ca. 1610) as to whether Venetian or Florentine glass was better for telescope lenses, which in those days were much like eyeglass lenses. Meniscus lenses were maybe developed by Wollaston in the early 1800s, probably for camera lenses although for similar reasons they're what we all use for eyeglasses today. But forget optics - fashionistas might say that eyeglass development didn't really hit its stride until those spiffy tortoise-shell frames appeared.
3:13 I'm thinking that if there's anyone with vision problems who could nonetheless survive well in a state of nature, it's Teddy Roosevelt.
Read the massive Edmund Morris three volume bio of the man, he most definitely did survive and in fact his folded speech and the case for his glasses in his pocket saved his life by deflecting the bullet a few millimeters away from his heart.
I've finally after nearly 50 years on this planet come up with a way to deduce whether something is convex or concave. The man mentioned lentils as an analogy for the lens. As such, lentils are a part of a vegetarian's diet. Emphasis on the V no less. By contrast, the C goes with carnivore. So, meat or meat-free is my newly found methodology. I hope you see the logic in this. Emphasis on the...
While I had hoped to make it to at least 51, like my dad, at 40 or so, my arms stopped being long enough for reading books or magazine prints
Otherwise I have had very good vision. Now, past 54, I can note a bit of loss at other ranges, not just close in, but still seem to see better than a lot of other people with supposedly good vision, so I guess I'll consider myself lucky. As I do plenty of work requiring safety glasses, I tend to just keep a bunch of reader style safety glasses on hand.
Love seeing all that history on the wall behind then, suddenly, a wild Darth Vader appears.
I wouldn't be using a psychology source when it comes to references to the eyes. It's the equivalent of using an astrology chart to talk about the formation of the Grand Canyon.
The Emperor Nero used an emerald as an eyeglass to watch the gladiators at the Games
I'm not convinced that I want to see what is in the future anymore.
Disease can affect eyesight. It did in my case. Prior to when I had red measles at the age of 7, I had really decent vision, but after I suffered through that (I think I was out of school for 3 weeks), my vision went to hell in a handbasket.
That must’ve been really tough