Edward Scarlett (1688 – 1743 in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

) was an English

optician An optician is an individual who fits glasses or contact lenses by filling a refractive prescription from an optometrist or ophthalmologist. They are able to translate and adapt ophthalmic prescriptions, dispense products, and work with acces ...

and instrument maker, who first invented an eyeglass frame with earhooks in 1727. This frame is held by the nose and ears, at times the glasses were called in contrast to the

nasal cannula The nasal cannula (NC) is a device used to deliver supplemental oxygen or increased airflow to a patient or person in need of respiratory help. This device consists of a lightweight tube which on one end splits into two prongs which are place ...

and ''temples'' because they had short straps that pressed on the temple. Among other things, Scarlett made polemoscopes (optical instruments that could be seen over obstacles) and tried not only to limit them to military use, but also to expel them. The lenses themselves were not, as often claimed, invented in 1285 by Salvino degli Armati. Around 1733, Scarlett was commissioned by Chester Moor Hall, the inventor of color-pure lenses, to produce a partial lens of the first Achromaten. However, he passed this order on to

George Bass George Bass (; 30 January 1771 – after 5 February 1803) was a British naval surgeon and explorer of Australia. Early life Bass was born on 30 January 1771 at Aswarby, a hamlet near Sleaford, Lincolnshire, the son of a tenant farmer, George B ...

. He had also received the subcontract for the other lens part and recognized the color purity of the double lens. So Bass could later pass on the mystery of the Achromaten to

John Dollond John Dollond (30 November 1761) was an English optician, known for his successful optics business and his patenting and commercialization of achromatic doublets. Biography Dollond was the son of a Huguenot refugee, a silk-weaver at Spitalfie ...

, who received the patent for their production in 1758.

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See also