Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
[Questions / Answers]
[Questions History /Kids]
My name is Laura, I am 9 years old
Did the glasses existed during the middle age?
Hi Laura! And thanks again for your great drawing, I see that you took the time to add some moats around the castle.
It's good because it's improving the defense
And I see that you added some small goldfishes inside it
That's good as well, so that they have a bit of space to swim
To answer your question... Yes there were glasses during the middle age
But we don't know exactly the date of their invention
But before talking about it, we need to state that during the antiquity, means to better see were already in use
For example, the roman emperor Neron, used an emerald in front of his eyes to better watch gladiator's fights
Unfortunately, we don't know if it was intended to protect him from the sun
Or if it really helped him to better see something
To better see the small objects
We as well have some hints, letting us think, that we could fill a balloon with water
And watch through it as with a magnifier
The magnifier that is used during the early middle age as a reading stone
A kind of big glass lens that is put on the text to make it bigger
But the first goggles... some glasses included in a mounting thus
appear during the middle age
The Chinese could be the firsts to have invented the concept during the Xth century
And if we suspect the existence of the first glasses in Europa starting from the XIth century
It's during the XIIIth century that the invention gets known
We don't exactly know who created it.
It could be Rober Bacon, a English monk who used it for reading
But there are 4 or 5 Italian and French scholars who during the same time seem to use glasses.
Whatsoever, the first models are not like today's ones
They had no side-pieces but a nose clip allowing them to hold directly on the nose
The mounting... everything else than the glass, thus
It was made of wood
At the beginning, they are mostly used by monastic scribes
And only allow to correct near sighted
But starting from the big printing hype triggered by Gutemberg during the XVth century
The use of glasses spread a bit everywhere
At it goes along, the making of the glasses starts to be more and more industrial
During the XVIIIth, we think that the famous Benjamin Franklin invents the dual-focus glasses
Allowing to see from near to far... and that's a real revolution
We start see glasses made a various materials and shapes
Nose-glasses, monocle, magnifier with handle, glasses with side pieces
If only the bourgeois can afford those glasses
Starting from the XIXth century, they are more and more common
However we had to wait for the middle of the XXth century to find them available for all, and fancy
Today they are everywhere and use for everything
Sun protection, the water, the splinter and the dust, correcting the sight, 3D glasses and even camera glasses
Each year, it millions of glasses that are sold and earn billions to their manufacturers
So Laura, I hope that you enjoyed this episode. Don't hesitate to share it with your friends if you learned something
And on my side, I tell you goodbye for a new "Question kid", cheers.
[The schoolchild during the middle age The story of paper]