It feels good to be able to start the new year on a high note instead of my normal cynical rant so I was very happy to read in the Gaurdian about the retired professor and inventor Josh Silver who has invented adjustable do-it-yourself glasses aimed to be distributed to poorer nations.
The glasses are simple and cheap. They allow the user, almost without training, to adjust the strength of their own glasses and be able to continue their lives.
For me it is relatively easy to understand the impact of this invention since I am dependent on my glasses or contact lenses to be able to see anything at all. This is not a big deal in my life since the solutions available to me are both cheap and readily available. The article writes “in Britain there is one optometrist for every 4,500 people, in sub-Saharan Africa the ratio is 1:1,000,000.”
This is an amazing adaptation of technology from the complex to the manageable well worth praising for its inventiveness and social awareness.