subject: A Short History Of Polaroid Sunglasses [print this page] Polaroid sunglasses; we all use them, we all love them but where do they come from? Well these sunglasses have a long but quite intriguing history; a history that a lot of people will find quite interesting.
Polaroid sunglasses were created and brought forth by the help of four people. When 1750 dawned James Asycough started experimenting with tinted sunglasses. He was using the tinted sunglasses to correct the vision problems that were created due to deformities in the pupils. At the same very time, a lot of people were experimenting with light and color. In 1808, a French physicist and mathematician named the Etienne Louis Malus made a few more discoveries. These discoveries lead to the invention of the Polaroid sunglasses. He discovered that the light waves from the sun come down in the form of rays. In these rays there are particles that are vibrating along several planes. The French scientist discovered that with the help of reflecting surfaces like air and water you can make sure that the rays from the sun that emerge are only moving in one plane. He also formulated a law. According to this law which came to be known as the Maluss law, the intensity of the polarized light that emerges from the Polaroid filter depends on the angle with which the waves hit the Polaroid surface. His law helped to advance the field of optics.
But it was 1815 when the most critical law was formulated by a Scottish hero. This Scottish man was a renowned astronomer, physicist and inventor. This Scottish man was famously known as Sir David Brewster. He was the first man who successfully determined the angle through which the polarized light can be transmitted through a Polaroid without the ray reflecting off the surface. This angle played a crucial role in the development of the Polaroid sunglasses. Without this invention the sunglasses with protection against the ultra violet radiation could not technically exist.
Though this was a very important and much needed turning point, this was in no way the end of the discoveries and the work regarding the polarized sunglasses. Work continued on this, and people actually initiated the use of yellow and brown tinted glass to protect them from the harsh glare of the sun. People soon realized that the color of the sunglasses had a lot to do with their ability to polarize the light.
But the biggest and the most crucial element and product that led to the formation or manufacture of Polaroid sunglasses was brought forth by the American inventor; Edwin H. Land. He was the person who created a material that has two very distinguishing qualities; it is inexpensive and it is really light in weight. Both of these features made this material an excellent choice for the manufacture of sunglasses. People had already realized that the polarized sunglasses were a great need and want, people flocked by the dozens or rather companies and started to use this material in the first polarized sunglasses that were made.
