From Benjamin Franklin to Rimless Bifocal Shades

The American man of science, Ben Franklin, who persevered both nearsightedness as well as presbyopia, devised bifocal reading glasses in 1784 to obviate having to frequently switch between two pairs of glasses.

The original lenses for repairing astigmia were manufactured by the British astronomer George Airy within 1825.

Along the history of bifocals, the building of spectacle frames also developed. Early on oculars were contrived to be either held in place with hand or by maintaining force on the nose. Girolamo Savonarola advised that oculars could be held in place with a ribbon passed over the subject’s head, this in turn fastened by the weight of a hat.

Entering modern bifocal history, the contemporary fashion of bifocal eyeglasses supported by temples passing over the ears, was produced in 1727 by the British lens maker Edward Scarlett. These designs were not at once prosperous, however, and assorted styles with attached handles like “scissors-glasses” and lorgnettes stayed fashionable throughout the eighteenth and into the early nineteenth century.

In the early 20th century, Moritz von Rohr at Zeiss made the Zeiss Punktal spherical point-focus lens system which dominated the eyeglass lens domain for many years.

Despite the rising fame of contacts and laser restorative eye surgery, eyeglasses remain quite popular, as their engineering has continued to improve. For example, it’s currently possible to buy frames constituted of special memory metal alloys that return to their correct configuration after being bent. Other frames have spring-loaded hinges.

Glasses have come a long way, haven’t they? In fact, today you can even buy sunglasses with bifocal lenses.

Most of these designs are also distinctly better able to resist the stresses of day-to-day wear as well as the occasional accident. Modern frames are also ofttimes constructed from robust, light-weight materials like titanium alloys that were not available in earlier times.

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