History of glasses

This evening the chess opponent of the American science fiction writer Van Vogt did not tire of amazed. Usually a sensible and calm partner began to make unthinkable moves and, in addition, not with his own figures. When the writer was asked if he was healthy, he blushed with embarrassment and hoisted glasses on his nose. And for embarrassment, the reasons were lacking: some time ago the blinded writer defiantly crushed the "damned glasses" in front of the same members of the club who were watching now his absurd game. And that's not all: soon a novel about his powerful "ladon putting" to his eyes, which healed all defects of vision, was published from under his pen.

Vogt was not the only opponent of points, the debate about their benefits did not stop until the last century. They were called vampires, sucking out their eyes, they painted witches and devils in glasses, but glasses were, as they were, and remained the most common optical device. They help a person to see when vision deteriorates, or protect our eyes from bright light, wind, dust. Who and when invented them is unknown. The oldest glasses on earth were found in the tomb of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun. Imagine a pair of dull brown glass beads, in which a bronze wire is made, which plays the role of an arch, - here are the pharaoh's glasses.

In Ancient Greece, polished crystals of rock crystal were used to improve vision. From ancient Roman times it came to us the legend that the emperor Nero liked to look at the gladiator fights through a polished emerald, and this was considered a sign of the cruelty of the ruler. True, there were people who explained the whim of Nero with his short-sightedness: a polished emerald replaced the glasses not yet invented then. According to the majority of authoritative opticians, with the help of the tools that existed during the time of the emperor, it was impossible to polish the stone in such a way that it turned into a lens. Most likely, Nero just applied an emerald with a sore eye, because this stone was considered in ancient times as a miracle-working one.

An increase in the letters under the spherical piece of glass was described by the outstanding Arab scholar Ibn al-Heights, who lived almost 900 years ago.

For the right to be called the birthplace of glasses, the Italian cities of Pisa and Florence furiously argued at one time. Many years ago in Pisa there lived a monk named Alessandro della Spina. In the chronicle of the monastery there is a brief entry about it. It says: "Spina died in 1312, everyone was sorry for him, since he was a modest and unshakable person and also knew how to make glasses. Discovering this record, the Pisans rejoiced.

Such bragging hurt painfully on the vanity of the Florentines. They believed that no one other than their fellow countryman could invent such a brilliant thing as glasses. They, in turn, also began to study the archives. And, as you guessed, the inventor-Florentine was certainly found. Also a monk and contemporary of the Back - someone Salvino dArmato. In 1738 the work of the Florentine professor D. Mani "Historical treatise on spectacles on the nose" came out, where he solemnly proclaimed Armato the author of the great invention. Evidence? A reference to the work of a Florentine historian( again!), In which a monument is mentioned in the palace of St. Mary with the inscription: "Here lies Salvino Darmato, the inventor of glasses. Lord, let him sins, 1317. "The author, however, honestly admits that he did not see this monument.

The long dispute between Pisa and Florence turned into a useless squabble.

Points.

And the birthplace of glasses( roughly the ones we use today) most likely was Venice - the "queen" of mirrors and glassware. The first reliable information about the use of eyeglasses for improving vision refers to the XIII century - in the works of the English scientist R. Bacon contained ideas for the use of lenses for glasses and described their "action".In Western Europe in the 16th century, spectacle lenses were no longer a curiosity. Many knew about them, but treated them differently. Judge for yourself. Pope Leo X solemnly hooves a pair of Venetian glass on his nose in a massive gold frame( and as soon as he has a nose!), He reads sermons in them and even hunts, tying silk ribbons to his ears. So he is depicted in the painting of Raphael. And at the same time in some countries strict clergy forbade wearing "the damned tool of the devil".In the XVI-XVII centuries, French nobles, for example, avoided appearing in glasses: this was considered a sign of bad taste and philistine origin. The Elector of Saxony, Augustus, sent troops to Venice for a pair of glasses of a special messenger and paid 500 chervonets for each glass. The poets compared the Virgin Mary to the crystal glass, which enlarges the small letters that bring people wise and beautiful thoughts. Meanwhile, on the engravings of those times, often depicted bespectacled devils, which once again testified: "Passion by points" did not abate.

Seller of points. Engraving of the XVII century.

In Russia, glasses hit the beginning of the XVII century. They were brought from Germany and Holland. They were expensive, but still in great demand. It was believed that the more a person has this foreign goods, the more he is more wealthy. Patriarch Nikon, for example, had as many as eight pairs of glasses in expensive and elegant cases. Now they are stored in the Armory. I wonder who wrote the glasses? After all, in those days there were no ophthalmic doctors in Russia. The windows were picked up by merchants themselves - ignorant people, but very clever. Often it happened that they would determine which people need lenses, at first like nothing, and then the eyes begin to desperately hurt - to the terrible rezi. So, the merchant put in unsuitable glasses. A curious historical document of the second half of the 17th century has survived - a letter from the tsar's steward to his wife. He punishes her to buy glasses and at the same time teaches how not to fall for the bait of a crafty shopkeeper who will probably try to shade green instead of transparent glasses.

Telescope. Engraving of the XVIII century.

And how did the glasses change outwardly? You probably know that at different times people used all sorts of lorgnettes, pince-nez, monocles attached to the hat with lenses. Almost 500 years it took to find the most convenient form for an optical device. The ears of a person as a suitable holder were "discovered" quite recently. The rim was tried to be made of everything: wood, horn, bone, leather, metal. .. But for today the winner was plastic.

A man with glasses is an ordinary phenomenon. But the glasses for animals - you imagine these? It turns out that they exist. In the last century, an inventive rider made for his horse glasses with a very large increase. He claimed that now all his distant obstacles should seem close to him and small ones to be large. Thanks to this, the horse will raise his legs ever higher and his gait will become more beautiful. It is not known whether this happened in fact.

But here's a reliable fact: one eye doctor from Chicago, having checked the eyes of horses participating in equestrian competitions, came to the conclusion that many of them need glasses. According to the doctor, most of the horses are farsighted. The first version of horse glasses - on the straps - has already been tested.

And how do you imagine glasses for roosters? There are also such. They are designed for the most pugnacious and prevent them from distinguishing their opponent. As a result, the bully behave more in a balanced manner, and consequently, intensively add to the growth and weight.

Nowadays there are all new designs of glasses that have different purposes. It's frightening to even imagine what will happen if the locomotive is driven by a sleepy driver: he can skip a red traffic light signal, in time not to brake. And then. .. But this does not happen, it is worth it to wear "electronic safety glasses", which outwardly differ little from the usual: in the frame are inserted as simple glass, and lenses. But at the same time on the frame mounted a device that controls the frequency of blinking. If a person has closed eyelids and eyelashes do not touch the miniature sensors for a few seconds, the device issues an alarm, which should awaken the machinist. And if it does not wake you up? Then in 7 seconds the brake system will automatically turn on.

For the pilots created "all-seeing" glasses. They allow you to see instrumentation without even looking at them. Information from the instrument scale is transferred by means of optical fibers to a miniature mirror in the center of one of the spectacle glasses. The mirror itself is not visible to the pilot, because his diameter is less than a millimeter, but the image from it gets into the pilot's eye, creates the illusion that the instruments are projected into space.

Microscope. XIX century.

Designed glasses for. .. writing. On their glasses are signs connected through infrared rays sensors with a miniature printer. It is enough to hold the gaze on one of the signs for a longer time so that the sensor that activates the printer works. With a short training, you can learn how to record at a speed of one sign per second. The glasses are intended for people who are paralyzed and unable to talk to others.

There are glasses that protect the eyes from falling drops of water in the rain, glasses for reading microfilms, foggy glasses for skiers and even glasses. .. for meetings. You lower your eyelids and sleep, and the speaker and others see them carefully looking at them.

Binoculars. XIX century.

And yet, glasses are not an ideal solution to the problem of improving eyesight. Imagine a ballerina or a boxer wearing glasses! Today myopia and hyperopia are eliminated with the help of artificial lenses that are inserted directly into the eyes. At the disposal of surgeons-ophthalmologists there are about 300 designs of such lenses! That's what turned into a globular piece of glass, whose ability to return vision to people discovered many centuries ago.