# A Clear History of Glass by LensRentals.com



## Canon Rumors Guy (Sep 14, 2015)

```
Roger at LensRentals.com has written another in depth and entertaining article about something you (nor he) didn’t know you cared about.</p>
<p>Glass!</p>
<p>A Clear History of Glass by Roger Cicala</p>
<blockquote><p>I’ve written about glass, as in lenses, for years now. But I’ve never looked into the history of glass as just a substance, because, well, who cared? When I accidentally did some reading about early glass, though, I was rather amazed at just how important it was. So I thought I’d write about the history of glass from around the beginning of time, up until when we started using it to make awesome lenses.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A strong argument can be made that the most important advances humanity ever made are fire, stone tools, the wheel, metalworking, the domestication of animals, and glass production. I know what you’re thinking and I agree; the wheel isn’t as important as the other 5. If you’re interested, read along and I’ll show you why making glass, drinking wine, and having bad vision are the three pillars that led to the development of science and Western civilization. Even if you don’t think you’re interested, read along. Glass is actually way more awesome than you think. <a href="http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2015/09/a-clear-history-of-glass" target="_blank">Read the full article</a></p></blockquote>
<p>It’s a good read.</p>
```


----------



## danski0224 (Sep 15, 2015)

Very interesting.


----------



## AcutancePhotography (Sep 15, 2015)

I look forward to looking into that.


----------



## Eldar (Sep 15, 2015)

I have started on a Loooong flight, or series rather, Oslo to Frankfurt to Johannesburg to Harare, followed by a day long travel in to Mana Pools (10 days of 1st division photo safari). I downloaded the article and will enjoy it on the flight. I hope to avoid becoming lion food and give you my comments on my return


----------



## Maximilian (Sep 15, 2015)

Thanks to Roger for writing and thanks to you for sharing. 
Very interesting and entertaining.


----------



## Don Haines (Sep 15, 2015)

As always, interesting and informative.

Thanks Roger!


----------



## AlanF (Sep 15, 2015)

Roger was amused by use of the word "spectacles". Do you Americans only say glasses?


----------



## Click (Sep 15, 2015)

Very interesting. 

Thanks for sharing.


----------



## RogerCicala (Sep 15, 2015)

AlanF said:


> Roger was amused by use of the word "spectacles". Do you Americans only say glasses?



Alan, we do use the term over here, but it's considered a bit old fashioned: my grandmother had spectacles, I have glasses. But mostly I was amused because I am an avid sports fan. Whenever I tried to helpfully aid the referee with his decision making, my ex-wife would lecture me about making such a spectacle of myself. 

Best,
Roger


----------



## AlanF (Sep 15, 2015)

Roger, I did a web search and found the following on a language forum:

"Americans prefer eyeglasses or glasses in short and British spectacles, but both are correct on either side of the Atlantic."

"Quite honestly if you said spectacles in the US without wanting to make a joke, you would leave people very bemused!"

"I said spectacles to an educated American friend once, and they had never even heard of them!"

Which explains your amusement.

The most popular "glasses" chain in the UK is "Specsavers"! 

The Oxford English Dictionary has the following first citations for the sense of lenses to alter vision:

spectacles: c1430
glasses: 1545
goggles: 1715
eye-glass: 1768


----------

