Editing Bifocals (section)

==History==
[[Benjamin Franklin]] is generally credited with the invention of bifocals. He decided to saw his lenses in half so he could read the lips of speakers of [[French language|French]] at court, the only way he could understand them.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bronowski|first=Jacob|url=http://archive.org/details/ascentofman0000bron_y1z2|title=The Ascent of Man|publisher=BBC Books|year=1990|isbn=978-0-563-20900-3|location=London|pages=271|author-link=Jacob Bronowski|orig-year=1973}}</ref> Historians have produced some evidence to suggest that others may have come before him in the invention; however, a correspondence between [[George Whatley]] and [[John Fenno]], editor of the ''[[Gazette of the United States]]'', suggested that Franklin had indeed invented bifocals, and perhaps 50 years earlier than had been originally thought.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Letocha |first1=Charles E. |title=The invention and early manufacture of bifocals. |journal=Survey of Ophthalmology |date=November 1990 |volume=35 |issue=3 |pages=226–35 | doi=10.1016/0039-6257(90)90092-A |pmid=2274850}}</ref> On the contrary, the College of Optometrists concluded:
:Unless further evidence emerges all we can say for certain is that Franklin was one of the first people to wear split bifocals and this act of wearing them caused his name to be associated with the type from an early date. This no doubt contributed greatly to their popularisation. The evidence implies, however, that when he sought to order lenses of this type the London opticians were already familiar with them. Other members of Franklin's circle of British friends may have worn them even earlier, from the 1760s, but it is at best uncertain (and arguably improbable?) that split bifocal lenses had a famous gentleman inventor. Since many inventions are developed independently by more than one person, it is possible that the invention of bifocals may have been such a case.<ref name=collegeoptometrists>{{cite web|title=The 'Inventor' of Bifocals?|author=The College of Optometrists|url=http://www.college-optometrists.org/en/knowledge-centre/museyeum/online_exhibitions/artgallery/bifocals.cfm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613044912/http://www.college-optometrists.org/en/knowledge-centre/museyeum/online_exhibitions/artgallery/bifocals.cfm|archive-date=2011-06-13}}</ref>

[[John Isaac Hawkins]], the inventor of [[trifocal lenses]], coined the term ''bifocals'' in 1824 and credited Benjamin Franklin.{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}}

In 1955, Irving Rips of Younger Optics created the first seamless or "invisible" bifocal, a precursor to [[progressive lens]]es.<ref>{{cite news |title=Hall of Fame Honors 12 Industry Veterans |url=https://www.visionmonday.com/article/hall-of-fame-honors-12-industry-veterans/ |work=Vision Monday |date=12 November 2008 |language=en}}</ref> This followed Howard D. Beach's 1946 work in "blended lenses",<ref name="Fanin and Grosvenor">[https://books.google.com/books?id=IbQ3BQAAQBAJ&dq=%22howard+beach%22+bifocal&pg=PA276 Clinical Optics], p. 276, by Troy E. Fannin and Theodore Grosvenor; published 2013 by [[Butterworth–Heinemann]]</ref><ref name=EncyclopediaOfNY>[https://books.google.com/books?id=tmHEm5ohoCUC&dq=%22howard+d+beach%22+bifocal&pg=PA123 Encyclopedia of New York State], p. 123, by Peter Eisenstadt, published 2005 by [[Syracuse University Press]]</ref> O'Conner's <!-- Borish doesn't provide his full name or, really, any other details! This site - https://entokey.com/prescribing-multifocal-lenses/ - says his name was "Connor" and he was in Indianapolis, but I don't know how useful that really is.--> "Ultex" lens in 1910,<ref name="Borish, p 1109">[https://books.google.com/books?id=uxHODAAAQBAJ&dq=ultex+o%27conner+borish&pg=PT1777 Borish's Clinical Refraction], p 1109, by William J. Benjamin; published 2006 by [[Elsevier]] Health Publishing</ref> and Isaac Schnaitmann's single-piece bifocal lens in 1837.<ref name="Borish, p 1108">[https://books.google.com/books?id=uxHODAAAQBAJ&q=schnaitmann&pg=PT1777 Borish's Clinical Refraction], p 1108 by William J. Benjamin; published 2006 by [[Elsevier]] Health Publishing</ref>