The webpage provides a comprehensive history of glass, from its natural formation and early uses to modern production techniques.
Abstract
The article "Glass Windows" delves into the historical and technological evolution of glass, tracing its origins to the Stone Age with the use of obsidian. It explores the development of glassmaking from its inception around 1500 BC in the Middle East to the invention of glass blowing in the 1st century BC. The text highlights the significance of glass during the Middle Ages, the rise of Murano glass in the 13th century, and the introduction of lead crystal in the late 17th century. It also covers the mass production of glass in the 20th century, including the revolutionary float glass process developed by Pilkington Bros in the 1950
Glass Windows
Happily Exploring History and Technology of Glass.
Windows, looking out and in. Metaphors for thinking perspectives. Pictures by John Rose.
Looking In,
Looking Out,
Windows everywhere,
Ubiquitous and
taken for granted,
Woven into language,
Everyday metaphors
allegories and
inspiring sayings,
“Never trust a
computer that
you can’t throw
out a window!”
Everywhere I look
glass sheathed buildings,
Car windscreens and
my tempered glass
display screen.
Glassmaking started
6000 years ago
before iron smelting,
Earliest evidence
beads dating to 3500 BC,
Back then,
Glass rarely
transparent,
Impurities and
imperfections.
True synthetic glass
making started
around 1500 BC,
Evidence suggests
true glass made in
Lebanon,
North Syria,
Mesopotamia and
ancient Egypt.
First glassmaking
manual dates to 650 BCE,
Instructions written in
cuneiform on clay tablets,
Discovered in library of
Assyrian king Ashurbanipal.
Evidence of Glass blowing
discovered on Syro-Judean coast
dates to middle 1st century BC,
Novel technique
called inflation where
air is blown into
molten glass blob,
Produces strong
thin walled objects of
uniform thickness,
Two major techniques
free-blowing and
mold-blowing emerged.
13th century
Murano became
centre for
glass making,
Building on
medieval techniques to
produce colourful pieces,
Murano glass makers
developed exceptionally
clear colourless
glass cristallo,
extensively used for
windows and mirrors
ships’ lanterns and lenses.
20th century,
mass production
made glass
freely available and
practical for
use in large scale
building applications.
In 1950's,
Pilkington Bros developed
float glass process,
Produces high-quality
distortion-free
flat glass sheets by
floating glass on
molten tin,
Ideal for my
apartment’s windows.
