The relationship between longevity and eyesight was clearer for the cave dwellers. Blindness was a death sentence. Their lives were filled with constant danger from wild animals, human enemies, and natural hazards. Primitive people who had poor vision died early in life because they could not protect themselves.
The History of Optics
In the first century A.D., Seneca recorded one of the first observations about refraction in his work Questions
Naturales: 'Letters, however small and dim, are comparatively large and distinct when seen through a glass globe filled with water." Seneca's observation was only the beginning of humanity's attempts to understand eyesight.
Much of our knowledge of the origins of modem eye care comes from art and literature. Early pictures and writings of the Chinese and Romans show that vision remained a concern for centuries after prehistoric times. There is evidence that warriors, leaders, and explorers in these ancient societies wore some of the first eyeglasses. Marco Polo reported seeing spectacles on Chinese gentlemen and merchants in A,D. 1270. We also know that the Egyptians did eye surgery, because there are paintings depicting these operations.
The Chinese made their glasses from naturally occurring sources such as Smokey quartz and rock crystals. The first manufactured lenses were made in the early fourteenth century in Venice, the cradle of modern glassmaking techniques. By the sixteenth century, Galileo, the Italian astronomer, focused on distant stars through the magnifying lenses of the first telescope.
Colonial America
Eye care was not an advanced science in Colonial America. Eye care for most American colonists consisted of making a decision about when to wear the eye glasses passed down from generation to generation. Cataract surgery had not progressed significantly since the time of the Greeks. Doctors who were interested in studying more about eye care trained in Europe and had to start their own hospitals because ophthalmology was not a recognized medical specialty. Spectacle makers were the only respected eye care professionals. The glasses for both near and far vision were combined in bifocal lenses by Benjamin Franklin.
Because they were rare and expensive, wearing spectacles was a sign of intelligence and wealth. President Thomas Jefferson wrote about his glasses:
“I received safely the spectacles and glasses you were so kind as to send me...and enclose you a 20 dollar bill on the bank of the U.S. the amount of their cost. The smallest pair of spectacles I am charmed with. They answer perfectly my wish. The other pair with double glasses I have not yet had time to try sufficiently and get them to fit my eye exactly. I have no doubt they will answer my expectation.”
Fortunately, Mr. Jefferson was an inventor who knew how to tinker with corrective lenses. His inventions were only a portion of the accomplishments of his long and productive lifetime. It was his desire to stay active well into old age that fueled his expectations for counteracting age-related vision loss. Jefferson's fascination with extending the quality of his life with spectacles is a good example of how eye care has progressed.
