Who Invented the Multifocal Optical Lens?

There are many different eye conditions that necessitate prescription lenses provided by an optician, but there are cases when multiple contrasting corrections need to take place on the same eye.

For example, someone who is long-sighted may also be dealing with presbyopia, an optical condition that is so common it is considered a typical part of ageing. Both of these conditions need different prescription lenses, and an alternative to carrying around two sets of glasses is a multifocal prescription.

A multifocal lens is a prescription lens with additional magnification attached to provide two or more focal points.

Typically, the main part of the lens is used for looking at distant objects, whilst a smaller section acts as an aid to reading and intermediate details. These benefits can be found in varifocal, bifocal, office, or digital lenses, and are recommended depending on one’s prescription and lifestyle needs.

Multifocal lenses are essential for many people to live comfortable lives, but the most commonly cited inventor is said to be the inventor and diplomat Benjamin Franklin.

Mr Franklin suffered from eye issues throughout most of his life and is known to have worn spectacles at least since the 1750s, and wore them constantly in order to see from 1776 until his death in 1790.

In 1779, Mr Franklin ordered a pair of spectacles that were remarkably expensive, ones he would later describe as “double spectacles”, similar to modern day bifocals, relating to the way in which each eyepiece held two half-lenses.

One of these was for viewing distant objects whilst the other was for allowing him to read up close without having to switch pairs of glasses, something that was as early as the 18th century seen as an inconvenience.

It was far from a simple task at the time, and a letter from the optician Sykes to Mr Franklin detailed an apology for repeated delays to the order, something caused by the lenses breaking three times during the cutting process.

These glasses turned out to be critical, as Mr Franklin was negotiating with the French government at the time, and could only understand what they were saying by lip reading, something that required him to see details in correspondence.