Eyeglasses - The History of Vision

Historians' biggest clue to the origin of eyeglasses comes from a sermon in 1306 by Juan Freiard Jordano-Dapiza. The invention was now 20 years old, he told his congregation in Florence. By 1301, eyeglasses for reading were popular enough to feature in the rulebook of the Guild of Venetian crystal workers. When the printing press came along, glasses reached a bigger market. First specialist spectacle shop opened in Strasbourg in 1466. Manufacturers branched out from concave lenses, which helped people to see close-up. They learned how to grind convex lenses, which help people focus on things that are far away. Put