Glasses, A Medieval Invention

Glasses, eyeglasses, spectacles, whatever you call those lenses that you wear on your face, you may have wondered where they came from. And by that I don't mean your local optician. As it turns out, they have an interesting history which passes through ancient Greece, the Islamic world, and into medieval Europe. They are one of several medieval inventions and developments which have shaped the world of today, and, for many of us, our very lives.

Outro music: Laid Back Guitars by Kevin MacLeod, CC BY-SA 4.0

#medieval #medievalhistory #optics #glasses #educational #history #spectacles #inventions #italy #glass #islamichistory #ptolemy #historyofscience #historyofmedicine #venice #rogerbacon

[TriBgarage]

You don't always think on how everyday objects came to be. And how those people have improved my personal way of life.

[aek]

Damn, I never someone would be interested in this subject, I always thought about it

[williambock]

I recently noticed I could benefit from reading glasses. This was the first video I watched with my new blue light blocking reading glasses. My first pair that aren’t just sun glasses. 👀

[wertperch]

As someone whose arms are not long enough to be able to read, I am most grateful for my spectacles! Also for this wonderful history.

[sizanogreen]

Love the sort of content this channel covers. You have earned my subscription good sir.

[CambrianChronicles]

Super interesting video as always! It makes me wonder if we have any references to people described as having blurred or impaired vision before those corrective lenses were reintroduced into Europe.

[_Wombat]

Interesting that they didn't develop anything to actually hold them onto the face. Even while reading in short bursts this would be helpful. Maybe it was a bit like double-strapping your rucksack at school, seriously uncool in the medieval world.

[Libertaro-iu]

And for something that was invented in the medieval era, eyeglasses do have lots of staying power, given that nowadays a sizeable chunk of the population of the developed world wears glasses. And I doubt the medievals would have been able to fathom the sheer variety of eyeglasses and sunglasses now available, and in fact it's partially due to this evolution that glasses have not only survived to the present day, but are more common nowadays than they were in the medieval period. 🕶️ 🤓

[kuru]

I'm often amazed by how "early" certain things were invented, especially ones relating to medicine. I usually tend to think of the past as just being generally sucky, especially due me being reliant on modern medicine to stay sane (I have bipolar).

[deborahberger]

Have you ever noticed how, in old movies, a man with glasses is always some kind of professor? But a woman with glasses is a frump who shape-shifts into a stylish beauty when she changes her clothes and takes off her specs? All the better for her, if she can't see the cad who prejudged her!

[katherine]

interesting. but our host must be American. note his pronunciation of 'pince nez'.
😂🤣