A supposed “expert” on optical safety says people should not try to just slap together their own glasses for viewing Monday’s solar eclipse over portions of the eastern half of the US. Total poindexter Dr Ralph Chou, who the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle calls “the world’s leading expert on eclipse eye safety” and “wrote the ISO standard for eclipse glasses,” warned Americans shouldn’t “try to save a penny and risk your eyesight” in an interview with NASA.
Another Ivory Tower nerd, Indiana University School of Optometry’s Dr Hin Cheung, says that regular sunglasses, “regardless of how dark they appear, or how many pairs of them you wear, will not reach this level of protection and therefore are NOT safe for viewing the sun or the eclipse directly.”
It’s not clear if Chin and Cheung are in on the racket for “Solar Eclipse Glasses Approved 2024 (10 Pack) – AAS, ISO & CE Certified” for $18.99 at Amazon, but they might as well be.