Ifeanyi Umunna Object Lesson (Peers) WRIT-106 April 1, 2021

The Artistic Origins of Contact Lenses

The sources that influenced the creation of contact lenses may not be what you expect.

CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION

The Mona Lisa. The Last Supper. The Vitruvian Man. What do these three things have in common? I’m guessing what first popped into your mind while playing this little word association game was Leonardo da Vinci. If so, that mental connection would be completely reasonable, as he is the artist behind every last one of these pieces. When we think of Leonardo da Vinci, we think of all things related to art in addition to a period that was, perhaps, one of art’s peaks in significance in our society: the Renaissance. What we do not tend to think of, however, is science. But maybe we should be associating him with science. After all, he sketched designs of rudimentary but impactful ancestors of the helicopter , the parachute, scuba diving equipment, the military tank, and a self-propelled cart (otherwise known as the ancestor of modern-day cars). These amazing advancements do not even begin to address his contributions to other scientific fields, including, but not limited to anatomy , optics, and hydrodynamics. Clearly, the man was a genius, but he was never truly recognized for these scientific benefactions because he never published them. Luckily, we still have the opportunity to enjoy the consequences of his work in the present day. *** Possibly the most appreciable of da Vinci’s scientific achievements, at least for the modern citizen, is his discovery that his vision was altered when he looked through a bowl of water. Although da Vinci never saw it come to fruition, his discovery led to the creation of contact lenses. In 1827, Sir John Herschel devised molds of human eyes that could allow for the creation of lenses that would remain attached to the outer surface of the eye. In 1887, German ophthalmologist Adolph Fick created the first pair of contact lenses, based on Herschel’s proposition and da Vinci’s discovery . These visual aids were presumably extremely uncomfortable, as they were made from glass shells, were crafted to cover the entire eye, and could only be worn for a few hours at a time due to the fact that they restricted oxygen flow to the eyes. Thankfully, in 1948, an optician named Kevin Tuohy designed the plastic, gas-permeable lenses we all know and love today. *** On the other hand, there is the more traditional visual aid commonly known as glasses. Eyeglasses, like contact lenses, were developed (and are still being developed!) over an extensive period of time. However, most agree that their official creation was in Italy in the late thirteenth century. Initially, eyeglasses were only able to be obtained by the elites of the day and were often an object of discussion in grandiose novels. For example, in his book Opus Majus , English friar Robert Burke writes about the science behind eyeglasses. In 1673, Florentine scholar Carlo Roberto Dati published an essay titled The Invention of Eyeglasses. In the Bible Historiale , an extremely popular medieval version of the Bible that was translated into French, Saint Paul is illustrated wearing glasses. Eyeglasses were not only associated with the elite, particularly the religious and scientific elites, but they were also quite literally reserved for the elites of the time. In the 18th century , two German authors summarized public perception of glasses perfectly. Poet Wolfgang von Goethe was known to have said that eyeglasses “destroy all fair equality between us... for what do I gain from a man into whose eyes I cannot look when he is speaking?” W riter Johann Peter Eckermann considered those who sported eyeglasses to be “conceited” as they “raise them to a degree of sensual perfection which is far above the power of their own nature.” Although some of these connections between glasses-wearers being intellectually, emotionally, and morally superior to non-glasses-wearers still exists in the present day, particularly in our most popular literature , eyeglasses are now available to people from all walks of life, and this accessibility is represented by the variety of glasses present today. There is a multitude of eyeglasses lens types . The cheapest and simplest type are single vision lenses, which are simply meant to correct either near or farsightedness. The next most simple, yet most prevalent is the bifocal, a lens type that was famously invented by Benjamin Franklin in 1784 . Bifocal lenses are divided into two parts in order to accommodate those who are both near and farsighted. The next type of lens is (you guessed it!) trifocal lenses, which are essentially bifocals that also correct one’s sight of objects that are a medium distance away. Other lens types include progressives, polycarbonate and trivex, high-index plastic, aspheric, computer (blue light), photochromic, and polarized. W ithin this group, you can find lenses to be used for contact sports, as sunglasses, specifically for reading, and a plethora of other activities. *** So what was the need for contact lenses? Why were they created in 1887 when the first prototype of eyeglasses was invented as early as 1285 and when there are such diverse eyeglass lens options available? Why are they overtaking other corrective lenses like the monocle, eyeglasses, and intraocular lenses in popularity ? Why do people prefer them to glasses, when glasses tend to be significantly cheaper in replacement and maintenance costs? At this point, you’re probably wondering, are there any benefits to contact lenses? What on Earth was da Vinci thinking? Well, if you’re one of the 45 million Americans who wear contact lenses , you know that they are extremely effective visual aids that make it possible to do things as basic as read, drive, and cook without squinting or being impeded by the clunkiness or fogginess of glasses. Because they conform to the shape of your eye, you can maintain perfect vision without the burden of a foreign object like glasses constantly touching your face and obstructing your peripheral vision and without the commitment and danger of eye surgery. If you’re like my mom, you wear your glasses in addition to your contact lenses. If you’re like me, you wear your contacts to help correct your astigmatism (a condition that distorts the shape of your cornea, resulting in blurred vision regardless of distance). In adolescents , wearing contact lenses can also help improve self-perception relating to physical appearance, so, in spite of the health risks associated with wearing contact lenses, there are also many physical and emotional health benefits that come with sporting these aids. Like glasses, they can be used for a variety of activities but will not get in the way, unlike glasses. They compliment any outfit and will not fog from your breath in cold weather or when wearing a mask. Also, they provide space for one to show off their personality. Color contact lenses allow one to change their eye color at whim. Contact lenses were needed because they are just plain practical. *** Contact lenses also represent unbridled potential. From their humble beginnings as simple vision distortion caused by looking through a bowl of water to their possible future as an augmented replacement for smartphones, contact lenses demonstrate that anything (and anyone!) can be revolutionary, regardless of seemingly humble beginnings. Contact lenses symbolize the necessity of the merging of disciplines. Their da Vincian background teaches us that arts and sciences go hand in hand, perhaps to the point where they are inextricably linked, yet our modern society often attempts to segregate them and place emphasis on one over the other. When budget cuts are made to public schools, art programs are usually the first to go. Since public schools are funded locally, not federally, when state budgets suffer, schools do too, especially those in low-income neighborhoods. For example, in 2010, the state of New York lost $700 million in education funding and Ohio's lost a total of 25 percent. Subsequently, many schools depend on partnerships with local, external arts organizations. Unfortunately, these groups are also slowly fading away. This phenomenon is a result of the No Child Left Behind Act, which, while meant to help systemically disadvantaged students who suffered from the achievement gap, actually still harmed them, as it placed emphasis on STEM subjects and standardized test scores , forcing already impoverished schools to shift all funding to these subjects and away from the liberal arts, decreasing the possibility of these very same students receiving a complete education. Regardless of whether or not you believe that elementary and secondary educations should be focused on STEM subjects rather than subjects in the liberal arts or a wholistic mix of both, the reality is that any educational experience benefits from participation in the arts. Art is connected to improvements in math, reading, cognitive ability, critical thinking, reasoning, behavioral, and verbal skills. This fact is fairly well accepted by society at large — from young mothers playing a particular style of music for their children in order to make them as smart as possible to many therapists, psychologists, and general doctors prescribing art as therapy — clearly, it is evident that the arts not only ameliorate but also permeate every aspect of our lives. So why, particularly in educational spaces, do we segregate it from other topics? What if our finest minds are being stifled due to this rejection of interdisciplinary learning? As da Vinci’s crude plans for the contact lens show us, the greatest minds connect the multiple disciplines in order to thrive in either (or all of them!). Our society would be well served to take a little inspiration from the humble, yet mighty contact lens.

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