The family and I spent some time in the swimming pool a few weeks ago. I brought my dive masks along and had some fun popping up right in front of the kids. Most divers use masks to see underwater. Being a contact lens wearer, I have another reason to wear a mask.
As I adjusted and readjusted my clumsy mask, I started pondering what purpose it serves. It provides an air pocket with which to bend the light rays back into a form which makes sense to my eyes. Yet, light does travel through water. Fairly well, sometimes. Why is the air needed?
Why do our perfectly-good eyes become useless underwater? Is it because water as the medium is thicker and scatters the rays? To what extent does the pressure on the eyeball contribute? Do light rays travel in a straight line through water? If not, why does putting on a mask line them up again?
Could contact lenses be designed which could make one’s eyes more effective underwater? Such an invention could revolutionize diving! No longer would a diver’s vision be limited to the cramped confines of a leaky mask. The underwater world would explode with color and sharpness! It would bring people much, much closer to the world of the sea.
It’s a half-baked idea, of course. I admit I haven’t spent much time going over the details. I probably sound pretty dumb to those reading this. But the idea is intriguing enough for me to study it further.
Y’all fire away.