Visionary Designers
In 1996, Joshua Silver invented Adaptive Eyeglasses with syringes of fluid that allow the world’s poor to inexpensively adjust lens prescriptions. See how designers address social and environmental issues in “Why Design Now?” starting May 14 at New York City’s Cooper-Hewitt.
Larger Than Life
Stroll among Bob Creamer’s gigantic digital images of birds and flowers through May 23 at the California University of Pennsylvania.
Take to the Skies
Though he died at age 34, Yves Klein took the art world by storm during his eight-year career. See his pieces starting May 20 at the Hirshhorn Museum.
A Change of Scene
Chinese artist Hai Bo switched from painting to photography to capture rural life. His show runs through February 27, 2011, at the Sackler Gallery.
Brought to Light
Through May 23, come face to face with creatures from the darkest depths of the Atlantic in the Natural History Museum exhibit “Deeper Than Light.”
Subscribe now for more of Smithsonian's coverage on history, science and nature.
Comments (1)
Joshua Silver did not invent the adaptive, liquid filled lens or its application in vision correcting spectacles. An article in Manufacturing Optics International, February 1973 gives a rather comprehensive run-down of of the development of this idea until about 1970. The first known lens of this type was a Dr. Schröder’s design in 1747 for a telescope objective. The first patent involving this type of lens was issued in France in 1879 for a pair mounted in an optometer, and in 1912 it was used in a design for vision correction. Some of these lenses had mechanical means to change the lens curvatures, but others used liquid injection into the space between flexible, clear membranes.
My own exposure to the use of liquid filled lenses in eyewear happened in 1970, when I was employed by Bausch & Lomb as an engineer in the Ophthalmic Instrument Design Department. B&L bought a patent from a Dr. Jacobson of Karolinska Institutet in Sweden for a method to adjust the power of the liquid lenses in a pair of spectacles by injecting or withdrawing liquid from the lenses. The only action B&L took was, a year or so after aquiring the patent, to hand me a news clip from a Swedish newspaper and ask me to translate it to English. The article was about a big American company that had bought a patent from Dr Jacobson only to make sure it was never developed to a marketable product.
Staffan Persson
Posted by Staffan Persson on May 20,2010 | 02:34 PM