{"product_id":"spectacles-and-the-victorians-measuring-defining-and-shaping-visual-capacity-paperback","title":"Spectacles and the Victorians: Measuring, Defining and Shaping Visual Capacity - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eGemma Almond-Brown\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is the first full-length study of spectacles in the Victorian period. It examines how the Victorians shaped our understanding of functional visual capacity and the concept of 20:20 vision. Demonstrating how this unique assistive device can connect the histories of medicine, technology and disability, it charts how technology has influenced our understanding of sensory perception, both through the diagnostic methods used to measure visual impairment and the utility of spectacles to ameliorate its effects. Taking a material culture approach, the book assesses how the design of spectacles thwarted ophthalmologists' attempts to medicalise their distribution and use, as well as creating a mainstream marketable device on the high street.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eBack Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e20:20 vision shapes the way we view our world. It dictates modern categories of ocular functioning as well as the degree to which technology should ameliorate it.\u003cbr\u003eThis book traces the Victorian origins of 20:20 vision. As the first full-length historical study of spectacles and vision testing, it draws together existing scholarship on ophthalmology, medicalisation, disability, normalisation, assistive technology, fashion, medical capitalism and sensory history. It interconnects these often disparate fields of study, and offers new insights into how technology - and its related historical actors - shape the meaning and experience of sensory perception and disability more broadly.\u003cbr\u003eIn considering the ways in which spectacles altered the experience and meaning of seeing in a variety of different contexts, \u003ci\u003eSpectacles and the Victorians\u003c\/i\u003e adopts a design model of disability. The material culture of spectacles - largely gleaned from two collections at the Science Museum in London - reveals that the functional and non-functional aspects of Victorian spectacle design created a non-medical object, a multifaceted device able to perform and even normalise attitudes to partial sight.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eGemma Almond-Brown is an Honorary Research Fellow at Swansea University and Research Development Officer at National Museum Wales\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 296\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.62 x 8.5 x 5.5 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIllustrated:\u003c\/strong\u003e Yes\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e January 20, 2026\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45646038073446,"sku":"9781526194855","price":72.71,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0599\/7255\/0758\/files\/AuVcxWgNql9781526194855.webp?v=1779403828","url":"https:\/\/infinitylightwa.com\/products\/spectacles-and-the-victorians-measuring-defining-and-shaping-visual-capacity-paperback","provider":"Infinity Light","version":"1.0","type":"link"}