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This web site explores a brief history of glass, and takes a look at how glass was produced and used traditionally and today. This web site also takes a look at different types of glass making technologies, and the history behind those technologies.

Glass is a brittle transparent solid with an irregular atomic structure (dictionary, "n.d."). Glass is not only a transparent solid, but when heated becomes a liquid. Liquid glass can be formed into any shape. Humans first discovered glass from volcanoes. The natural glass material made from volcanoes is called obsidian. The definition of obsidian is, "a usually black or banded, hard volcanic glass that displays shiny, curved surfaces when fractured and is formed by rapid cooling of lava" (dictionary, "n.d."). Although most of the time black obsidian can also be a shiny orange, gray or green (History). Figures 1-3 show the physical properties and colors of obsidian.

Glass is made from three substances sand, plant ash, and lime. Humans first explored glass making in Egypt around 1500 BC, glass was used as a glaze for pottery (Wikipedia, 2005). About a thousand years later a new discovery was made. The discovery that was made, probably by a potter, was glass could be heated until it became liquefied, and could then be shaped into any desirable shape (Islip, "n.d."). This discovery lead to many new changes in the glass industry. One major change this discovery lead to was the invention of glass blowing.

Around the first or second century before Christ a Mesopotamia potter found a way to make a glass tube (Hirst, "n.d."). The potter came across this discovery by blowing a bubble out the end of a glass tube. This potter created the first blow pipe, and therefore created glass blowing (Thrall, "n.d."). Glass blowing production increase with the invention of the metal blow pipe. The Romans used glass blowing much more than others to fill their homes with what was then thought to be very valuable pieces of glass.

Around 1820 Bakewell, Page, and Bakewell developed a machine that dramatically changed glass blowing. Bakewell, Page, and Bakewell invented a machine that would mechanically press hot glass into a desired shape. The invention of this machine brought about a major decline with skilled craftsman. The need for glass makers was no longer needed (Thrall, "n.d.")

Stained glass is, "Glass colored by mixing pigments inherently in the glass, by fusing colored metallic oxides onto the glass, or by painting and baking transparent colors on the glass surface" (dictionary, 2005). Stained glass was first used between 200 A.D. and 1100 A.D. by the Romans as luxury items, which were placed in their villas and palaces (Fitzgerald, "n.d."). Around 313 A.D. stained glass moved from being a luxury item to becoming more of an art form. Stained glass became was widely used in the building of churches. The stained glass was constructed together to form windows. Many artists expressed their art through the stained glass windows (Art, "n.d.") The process for constructing a stained glass window was created by the monk Theophilus. Craftsman around the time of 1100 A.D. followed Theophilus's instructions on how to build stained glass windows. The process starts of by figuring the dimensions of the window. The second step according to Theophilus was to sketch a drawing on a piece of wood, and choose colors to be placed in the window. The third step was to cut the glass and connect the pieces together with grozing iron. The last step was to surround the window with a wooden frame to strengthen the piece (Art, "n.d.").

What is fiberglass? Fiberglass is a material consisting of extremely fine glass fibers, used in making various products, such as yarns, fabrics, insulators, and structural objects or parts (Dictionary, "n.d."). Glassmakers throughout history have experimented with making glass fibers, but due to poor machine-tooling making fiberglass was a struggle. In 1893, at the World Columbian Exposition a dress maker by the name of Edward Drummond displayed a dress which included glass fibers. "What is commonly known as "fiberglass" today, however, was invented in 1938 by Russell Games Slayter of Owens-Corning as a material to be used as insulation (Encyclopedia, 2005). By the Second World War fiberglass combined with plastic took on a new role. Fiberglass is often misunderstood for GRP or glass reinforced plastic. GRP was first used by the United Kingdom during World War II to replace molded plywood used in aircraft radomes. GRP was mainly used in the 50's for the building of boats. Today GRP plays a dominate role in the boat, automobile, and sports industry (Wikipedia, 2005).

"Pressed glass is important in history because it allowed mass production of products, particularly of bowls that looked like cut glass, but without the manual labor of cutting" (Firth, "n.d."). Pressing glass is a system which used a mold and heated glass. Heated glass is placed into a mold and forced to take the shape of the mold. Once the mold has taken its shape features could be added. For example, if a pitcher was being made a handle and lip could be added to the pitcher. Figures 12, 13, and 14 show the process the piece would go through after cooling. Once the piece is taken from the mold it has to be hardened. During Hardening cool air is blown on the glass. After the piece has been hardened it is then polished. (Mosser, 2005)

(Mosser, 2005)

Fig. 12 - Molding

(Mosser, 2005)

Fig. 13 - Hardening

(Mosser, 2005)

Fig. 14 - Polishing

Garbage has been a problem throughout history, and one way people have tried to help the environment is through recycling. "Recycling has been around since the earliest communities and settlers" (Keene, "n.d."). Glass is a good product to recycle for many reasons. One reason is because bottle and jars are 100% recyclable. Glass bottles and jars can be used over and over again saving natural resources for the future. Bottles and jars get recycled by first sorting them by color. Once sorted by color the glass is shipped to a beneficiation plant where the glass is crushed. The crushed glass is called cullet. The reason for crushing the glass into cullet is because cullet melts at a lower temperature. The glass is then melted and shaped into new products (Keene, "n.d.").

The new modern glass technology used by car manufacturers and architects is using flat or simple curve glass panels. Car manufacturers such as Mercedes-Benz is using the modern glass technology to make a spectacular multifunctional all-glass closure with its new Mercedes-Benz Maybach. One question I have with this feature would be how the all-glass closure would react in an impact or crash. According to Mercedes-Benz, "the glass dome would be subjected to a variety of stresses and strains which routinely occur in service" (Marcus, 1998). The structure of the all-glass closure can withstand impacts due to the dome design. The design in tells, "structural reinforcements, which transform the closure into a ladder frame structure" (Marcus, 1998).

(Mercedes-Benz, 1997)

Fig. 18 - Inside of Mercedes-Benz Maybach

Not only are car manufacturers using glass to build, but many architects are building structures from glass. The figure below show how architects today are using glass in their designs. Architect Erick van Egeraat designed the National Bank of the Netherlands in the 1990's. The structure was complete in 1997 in Budapest, Hungary. (Mariinsky, 2005)

(Mariinsky, 2005)

Fig. 19 - National Bank of the Netherlands

Art Glass Association ("n.d."). Stainded Glass A Brief History.
Retrieved October 17, 2005 from , Web site:http://www.thestorefinder.com/glass/library/history.html

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http://www.auroraglass.org/images/mainsite/crglass.jpg

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ConGlassCrete (2004). ConGlassCrete Photo Gallery. Retrieved
November 28, 2005 from , Web site:
http://www.wrap.org.uk/ConGlassCrete/photo_raw.asp

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17, 2005 from , Web site:
http://zhongyabq.en.alibaba.com/product/10247426/10334116/Fiberglass_Woven_Roving/Fiberglass_Woven_Roving/showimg.html

Firth, M ("n.d."). Glass History. Retrieved November 30, 2005
from , Web site: http://users.ticnet.com/mikefirth/gl-hist.htm

Fitzgerald, S. ("n.d."). History of Stained Glass. Retrieved
October 14, 2005 from , Web site:http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/ArtHistory/StainedGlass/history.htm

Hirst, K. ("n.d."). The History of Glass Making. Retrieved
October 14, 2005 from , Web site:http://archaeology.about.com/od/glass/a/glassmaking.htm

Islip Recycling Curriculum ("n.d."). History of Glass. Retrieved
October 14, 2005 from , Department of Enviromental Control Web
site:http://cwmi.css.cornell.edu/TrashGoestoSchool/History.html#anchor15604257

Keene Public Works ("n.d."). A True Recyclable. Retrieved
   October 18, 2005 from , Web site:http://www.ci.keene.nh.us/publicworks/recycle/allaboutglass.html

Marcus, J. (1998). Got It And Flaunting It. Automotive Engineer,
   23(1), 24.

Mariinsky (2005). Glass Building. Retrieved November 30, 2005
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http://www.mariinsky.ru:8000/print/en/arch/contestants/egeraat

Mercedes-Benz Maybach (1997). Maybach. Retrieved November 30,
2005 from , Web site:
http://www.auto.mmt.ru/html/merc/maybach/foto/aimg0112.htm

Mosser Glass (2005). Processes. Retrieved November 30, 2005 from
, Web site: http://www.mosserglass.com/html/process.htm

Obsidian Picture ("n.d."). Three Obsidian pictures retrieved on this
page . Retrieved October 17, 2005 from , Web site:http://www.sacredhealings.de/html/body_obsidian.html

Thrall, A ("n.d."). A Brief History of Glass Blowing. Retrieved
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Vessel Replicas (May 20, 2002). Roman Vessels Replicas.
Retrieved October 18, 2005 from , Web site:http://www.cowboyindian.com/roman.htm

Wikipedia (September, 28 2005). Glass Reinforced Plastic.
   Retrieved October 17, 2005 from , Web site:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass-reinforced_plastic

Wikipedia (2005). fiberglass. Retrieved October 17, 2005 from ,
      Web site: http://www.encyclopedia4u.com/f/fiberglass.html

Traditional Glass Technology	Modern Glass Technology	Stained Glass	Recycling
Fiberglass	Glassblowing	Pressed Glass


Fig.4- Shows how glass was blown by skilled craftsman.	Fig. 5 - Roman Vessel Replicas	Fig. 6 - Roman Vessel Replicas	Fig. 7 - Roman Vessel Replicas


Fig. 8 - Stained glass candle lamps from Roman era.	Fig 9. - German Heraldic Window	Fig. 10 - Stained glass window, St Margaret's Chapel, Edinburgh Castle.


Fig. 15 - Crushed Cullet	Fig. 16 - Unprocessed Glass Cullet	Fig. 17 - Crushed Glass Cullet


Fig. 1	Fig. 2	Fig.3