GLASS
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GLASS
[[Glass]] is a beautiful and versatile material whose properties have made it possible for it to be used in almost anything, whether for decorative, scientific or industrial purposes. There are inarguably many sectors in industry where glass is either used as tools, as an ingredient comprising a product or the product itself.
However, glass saw its first use as a decorative material. Prehistoric man was found to have used glass beads and bits as adornments. Artifacts definitive of the early uses of glass were found in Egypt and Eastern Mesopotamia, and these artifacts were dated at around 3,500 BC. Glass was actually used back then as a form of glaze on the surface of earthen pots and vases. The Roman philosopher Pliny the Elder claimed in his writings that the Phoenicians were the people who invented the process of making glass. On the contrary, glass making was an art that was formed in Mesopotamia; the merchants and sailors of Phoenicia were the ones who have brought the use of glass to a wider base around the Mediterranean.
Glass making in those early days found its center in the Egyptian city of Alexandria. Back then, at around the 15th century BC, the core method was used in Egypt. The core method is a glass making process where hot glass threads were molded around a core. The core is usually a bag of sand or dung fastened around the rod. When the glass becomes dry, the core is taken out.
It was between the years 27 BC and 14 AD that the art of glassblowing was developed by Syrian glassmakers. Glassblowing made it easier to produce more glass objects at a lesser cost. The products of Syria came to the other parts of Europe through the trading activities of the Romans. The Romans by that time have already subdued most of the Mediterranean under their rule and glass became a household name among Roman subjects. It was also in the time of the Romans that the use of glass as objects for building, such as windows, became common practice in the homes and establishments of the nobility.
Just as much as the rise of the Roman Empire lent to the rise in the further development of glass making, the same can be said with the Roman Empire’s decline. Although stained glass became widespread in the Middle Ages, the use of glass objects became somewhat limited during this time, and so did their creation. The techniques of making beautiful glass objects, however, were preserved in Venice, particularly in the island of Murano. Glass makers in Murano discovered that adding quartz sand and potash results in pure crystal glass. Thus, because of their exquisite beauty, glass objects made in Murano were placed in high value and were in high demand at the time.
The techniques of the Murano glass makers, however, are a secret closely guarded by the Venetian government. To divulge this secret is punishable by death. Nonetheless, the beauty of Murano glass has prompted Henri IV of France to entice Murano glass makers to migrate to France. The prize dangled to migrating glass makers is French citizenship after eight years and exemption from taxes.
Meanwhile, in response to the secrecy of Venice with the techniques of Murano glass makers, British glass maker George Ravenscroft was led to develop in 1674 the glass making process that added lead oxide into the molten glass. The resulting product was called lead glass crystal. Lead glass crystal has a higher reflective index than ordinarily made glass and can be cut and engraved with every design imaginable without breaking.
In the 1800s, technological developments have allowed glass to be mass produced. Otto Schott and Ernst Abbe of Germany began to study the optical and thermal properties of glass, leading to the birth of glass chemistry as an acceptable field of research. The Siemens brothers, at around this time, also patented the tank furnace. Longer and wider steps were taken towards the process of glass making when the gob feeder and the IS (individual section) machine were developed in 1923 and 1925 respectively, ensuring the uniformity of manufactured glass products.
Today, the study of glass and how to improve the ways of manufacturing them has not stopped. We can expect new technologies in glass making to rise in the days to come.
