title: Benjamin Martin (1704-1782) and his writings on the eye and eyeglasses.
abstract: Benjamin Martin (1704-1782) was an English schoolmaster, author, popular science lecturer, optician, and instrument maker. During his diverse career, he sought to introduce improvements to various instruments, including the invention of a unique type of spectacles, which he called "visual glasses." He wrote numerous monographs on a wide range of topics, with optics being his area of greatest expertise. This paper presents a brief biographical sketch of Martin and examines his writings for what he had to say about the eye and eyeglasses.
authors.affiliation: School of Optometry, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA. dgoss@indiana.edu
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Goss
mesh_terms: D004739:England; D005123:Eye / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D005139:Eyeglasses / Q000266:history*; D049671:History, 18th Century; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012586:Science / Q000266:history