The function and fashion of eyeglasses Small Thing Big Idea a TED series
Transcriber: TED Translators admin
Reviewer: Joanna Pietrulewicz
I think that at the time,
Catwoman had a really
cool pair of glasses
in the Batman series
that was on television.
And I wanted to be cool like her.
It didn’t occur to me
that glasses were really a medical device.
(Small Thing.)
(Big Idea.)
When light rays reflect off an object
and enter the eye through the cornea,
your retina converts this
light into electrical impulses
that are sent to the brain,
which interprets the impulses
and allows you to understand
what you’re seeing.
Eyeglasses help you see.
The earliest forms of eye gear
can be traced back 4,000 years.
Cultures that needed to adapt
to climates that were snowy
created eye shields,
and they were made of
bone and animal hides.
They had small slits
for people to see through,
but no lenses.
The first vision aid
was called a reading stone
and was invented over 1,000 years ago.
It’s not exactly clear
who invented the first eyeglasses,
but many people
attribute it to the Italians.
Early versions of eyeglasses
were called rivet spectacles.
They were two magnifying glasses
that were hinged together
at the bridge of the nose.
It took some time for eyeglasses to land
on the perfect design.
They didn’t really have sides,
which are also called temples, or arms,
until about the 17th century.
Modern-day eyeglasses
feature a pair of rims
that hold corrective lenses,
a bridge that connects the rims,
sides that slide behind the ears,
hinges that connect
the sides to the frames,
and on some glasses, a pair of temple tips
for behind the ear comfort.
In American culture,
20th century cinema
helped popularize eyeglasses.
Audiences would see
glamorous actresses and actors
donning glasses
to take on a different persona.
Sometimes a pair of glasses
became popularized
by the actual person
that was wearing them,
and then that personality trait
was projected into the actual device.
You had the aviator glasses,
which showed a forward-thinking,
adventurous type of person.
Glasses with heavy frames
signified intelligence
or nerdiness.
Wayfarers signified
this kind of nerdy punk,
the outlaw, the misfit.
Glasses have become
so popular as a fashion device
that some people actually don glasses
without a prescription lens at all,
because they want to portray
a certain attribute about themselves.
Glasses are a lifeline to people.
People that can’t see
well enough to drive,
well enough to cook, well enough to read
rely on glasses
for maintaining their lives.
And there’s lots of other
objects in our society
that have been created
to help overcome various
physical obstacles.
And it’s only the eyeglasses
that have catapulted
to that fashion statement.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful
if anything that we use,
any device that we’ve invented
to help our humanity
could also be elevated in the same way?
(Upbeat music)