Recently, as I once again searched in frustration for my misplaced reading glasses, it occurred to me that this tiny, innocuous object has got to be among the top five inventions of all times for I just have not been able to read anything but the largest prints without it for decades. And most people I know who have passed age forty, have a similar difficulty.
Ok, maybe not reading glasses specifically I argued to myself, but at least the magnifying glass has to be one of the greatest inventions for it must have been from that that reading glasses eventually evolved. After all, if older inventors couldn't magnify anything, would there have been such wonderful, useful and earth shattering inventions over the years?
So as soon as I found the illusive object and was able to read again, I decided to immediately research the top ten inventions to confirm my suspicions, using good old google of course.
But the results of my research were a bit disappointing to say the least for the first answer to pop up when I googled top ten inventions, was from an organization called "Thought Company." They listed ; wheel, nail, compass, printing press, internal combustion engine, phone, light bulb, penicillin, contraceptive, internet. I wasn't overly impressed with their list, because for example, is the nail really more important than the magnifying glass? Anyway wouldn't the television a spill off from the camera anyway?
Disappointed I quickly checked the next site, this time "Stuff of Genius." They listed what they said were the 10 Inventions that changed the world as; internet, computer, light bulb, automobile, steam engine, communications, refrigeration, printing press, wheel, plow.
Dissatisfied, I checked a few other pages and was absolutely astounded that despite them all listing necessary and revolutionary products, and a site called "IB Times out of the UK" even listing the paper, none listed the magnifying glass among the top ten. This caused me to wonder how effective printing and paper would have been if only mainly people under 40 years old would have been able to read what was being printed?.
For I had always heard that one's eyesight generally starts to deteriorate at around age 40 although a baby can be born with poor eyesight. So I decided to check if this was really an old wives tale for maybe that was why everyone was overlooking the importance of magnifying glasses. So turned to the American Academy of Ophthalmology for guidance. But they confirmed the popular lore for this quote in bold letters jumped right out. "Around age 40 many people start to notice changes in their eyesight that increase as they get older."
OK, so when was the magnifying glass invented I wondered, or to put it simply, when did people start to enjoy a respite from this over 40 tribulation? For remember it is said the Sumerians invented writing from some 5000 years ago?
The more I thought about the issue, the more fascinated I became and determined to prove that those making lists of top ten greatest inventions, were shortsighted as they were overlooking a critical element in human development. This time turned to good old reliable Wikipedia.
The findings were very interesting as they revealed that the Assyrians, Egyptians and Babylonians used gems, polished crystal to be specific magnify objects from as far back as 700 bc. This practice seemed to have lasted for some time and was adopted elsewhere as Roman Emperor Nero who ruled from 54 - 68 AD, even had an improvement done for it is recorded that he was seen using a monocle made from a polished emerald.
However, it appears people like the Roman author and philosopher, Pliny the Elder, (who lived between AD 23-79) was not as privileged for Seneca, an attorney, statesman, humorist, teacher wrote of Pliny that he used a globe filled with water, which he said; "... could be used to read letters no matter how small or dim."
Curious about this, although I didn't have a globe, I tried it with an ordinary drinking glass filled with water and ta da, it did indeed magnify the print I used. But that must have been clumsy to use I surmised so continued to look for information about the development of the magnify glass as we know it today for I was convinced it must have been the fore runner to eye glasses.
I finally got somewhere for I did eventually read that it was indeed invented in 1250 by Roger Bacon, who was a lecturer an Oxford University in England. After that, things started to move as circa 1290 the Italians were credited with inventing the actual eyeglass. and according to Wikipedia, in a sermon in 1306, a Dominican friar wrote "It is not yet twenty years since there was found the art of making eyeglasses, which make for good vision. And it is so short a time that this new art, never before extant, was discovered. ... I saw the one who first discovered and practiced it, and I talked to him."
Ok, maybe not reading glasses specifically I argued to myself, but at least the magnifying glass has to be one of the greatest inventions for it must have been from that that reading glasses eventually evolved. After all, if older inventors couldn't magnify anything, would there have been such wonderful, useful and earth shattering inventions over the years?
So as soon as I found the illusive object and was able to read again, I decided to immediately research the top ten inventions to confirm my suspicions, using good old google of course.
But the results of my research were a bit disappointing to say the least for the first answer to pop up when I googled top ten inventions, was from an organization called "Thought Company." They listed ; wheel, nail, compass, printing press, internal combustion engine, phone, light bulb, penicillin, contraceptive, internet. I wasn't overly impressed with their list, because for example, is the nail really more important than the magnifying glass? Anyway wouldn't the television a spill off from the camera anyway?
Disappointed I quickly checked the next site, this time "Stuff of Genius." They listed what they said were the 10 Inventions that changed the world as; internet, computer, light bulb, automobile, steam engine, communications, refrigeration, printing press, wheel, plow.
Dissatisfied, I checked a few other pages and was absolutely astounded that despite them all listing necessary and revolutionary products, and a site called "IB Times out of the UK" even listing the paper, none listed the magnifying glass among the top ten. This caused me to wonder how effective printing and paper would have been if only mainly people under 40 years old would have been able to read what was being printed?.
For I had always heard that one's eyesight generally starts to deteriorate at around age 40 although a baby can be born with poor eyesight. So I decided to check if this was really an old wives tale for maybe that was why everyone was overlooking the importance of magnifying glasses. So turned to the American Academy of Ophthalmology for guidance. But they confirmed the popular lore for this quote in bold letters jumped right out. "Around age 40 many people start to notice changes in their eyesight that increase as they get older."
OK, so when was the magnifying glass invented I wondered, or to put it simply, when did people start to enjoy a respite from this over 40 tribulation? For remember it is said the Sumerians invented writing from some 5000 years ago?
The more I thought about the issue, the more fascinated I became and determined to prove that those making lists of top ten greatest inventions, were shortsighted as they were overlooking a critical element in human development. This time turned to good old reliable Wikipedia.
The findings were very interesting as they revealed that the Assyrians, Egyptians and Babylonians used gems, polished crystal to be specific magnify objects from as far back as 700 bc. This practice seemed to have lasted for some time and was adopted elsewhere as Roman Emperor Nero who ruled from 54 - 68 AD, even had an improvement done for it is recorded that he was seen using a monocle made from a polished emerald.
However, it appears people like the Roman author and philosopher, Pliny the Elder, (who lived between AD 23-79) was not as privileged for Seneca, an attorney, statesman, humorist, teacher wrote of Pliny that he used a globe filled with water, which he said; "... could be used to read letters no matter how small or dim."
Curious about this, although I didn't have a globe, I tried it with an ordinary drinking glass filled with water and ta da, it did indeed magnify the print I used. But that must have been clumsy to use I surmised so continued to look for information about the development of the magnify glass as we know it today for I was convinced it must have been the fore runner to eye glasses.
I finally got somewhere for I did eventually read that it was indeed invented in 1250 by Roger Bacon, who was a lecturer an Oxford University in England. After that, things started to move as circa 1290 the Italians were credited with inventing the actual eyeglass. and according to Wikipedia, in a sermon in 1306, a Dominican friar wrote "It is not yet twenty years since there was found the art of making eyeglasses, which make for good vision. And it is so short a time that this new art, never before extant, was discovered. ... I saw the one who first discovered and practiced it, and I talked to him."
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