Optical Lenses

Description: In museums around the world are objects labled something like ornaments. Robert Temple recognized these as optical lenses such as what would be used in telescopes. He writes, I was surprised as I strolled through the museums of the world and saw ancient lenses on public display labelled as all kind of crazy things - as anything but lenses! When I went to study ancient Greek lenses in the Department of Classical Antiquities at the British Museum, I met one member of the staff who insisted that there never were any ancient Greek lenses. (This is despite the fact that Aristophanes describes one in his play The Clouds, and there are countless ancient references to optical technology in the ancient literature) I then proceeded to photograph and measure some ancient Greek lenses in that very room, which the person concerned refused to acknowledge, and I thought more than a little ironic that there is a display cabinet standing just outside the door to the roomcontaining ancient Greek lenses mis-labelled as 'counters', and which can be seen clearly magnifying the strands of the cloth underneath them.

Mainstream Theory: The established scientific ommunity is silent on this discovery.

Alternative Theory: As with many other modern inventions, the invention was discovered long ago but for some unknown reason the knowledge was lost. These lenses are of highly polished crystal or glass and were used in telescopes. Many ancient cultures have had knowledge of planets and stars that could have only been known by seeing them with a telescope.