Well, most of that is thanks to this guy Henry Bessemer. Ah, not bad hey.Īnd in the 17th century we got telescopes.Īs for the big sheets of glass that are used in buildings pretty much everywhere. Then in the 16th century in Venice we got our first look at ourselves thanks to mirrors. Oh, I can see everything so much more clearly now. In the 13th century in Northern Italy the first glasses to enhance eye sight came about. Yeah, I love it, love what you've done.Īs the years went on glass became more and more popular. Oh, I'm just kidding, no, no it looks great. What have you done? All the glass is stained. By the 1100s many European cathedrals were being decorated with stained glass windows, coloured with powdered metals mixed into the molten glass. Instead, you might just have a hole in your wall with an animal hide curtain or a window made out of paper, fancy. Yep, there was a time when people didn't have glass windows. JACK: Manny, Manny, can you see me? I can see you. Glass blowing was later taken by the Romans who used it, along with a sort of pressing technique, to create the first glass windows. And around the first century BC the Syrians came up with the technique of glass blowing, which truly changed the game. Over the next few hundred or so years glass making became popular across the Mediterranean, Europe and into parts of Asia. Ha.Ībout 1000 years later the Ancient Egyptians also began creating things out of glass, in particular they were quite fond of making glass beads.

But instead, no, I was making this, a cup for my drink. JACK: Yeah, so, all I did was mix silica sand, lime, and soda. And some historians reckon it might have happened by accident. But the first human efforts to make glass, that we know of anyway, happened around 2500 BC, in the ancient region known as Mesopotamia. Including Australia's First Nations peoples who used it as cutting tools, as tips for spears and for ceremonial purposes. And from what experts can tell humans have been using these types of glass for hundreds of thousands of years. There are a few other types of naturally occurring glass, like fulgurite which occurs when sand is hit by lightning and tektite which is the result of a meteorite impact. The other is typically, but not always, sand.

What do you think?Īs the volcano would suggest, one of the main ingredients in making glass is heat. It appears to have been formed when the molten rock from this volcano cooled rapidly resulting in this sort of blackish/greenish thing. This is obsidian, it's a type of natural glass. While we clean up, let's take a look at the long, long history of glass and I do mean long. Oh gosh sorry, you're just so terrifying sometimes. But have you ever wondered where does glass comes from? Why can I see through it? Is it just hot sand? And why can't I throw stones in glass houses? Well, I've asked a very dear friend of mine to help explain. JACK, REPORTER: When it comes to drinking vessels, for me, nothing beats a glass. INTRO: But first today, let's go back in time to find out how glass was first discovered and used and how it's changed life as we know it.

We'll find out how glass has changed the world, learn about some amazing glass inventions, with the help of our Rookie Reporters, and even see some impressive glass art. Now, if you're wondering what I'm doing standing in front of a glass house, well that's because the theme of this year's Science Week is glass and that's what we're going to explore on today's show. Henry Glass Fabrics are high quality, quilt shop quality fabrics.Hey everyone, Amelia Moseley here bringing you this BTN Science Week special. Henry Glass is one of our favorite fabric manufacturers! They have a host of famous designers, and add more every year! Some of the more well known designers and designers we carry include Kim Diehl, Jan Mott, Stacy West of Buttermilk Basin, Shelly Comisky of of Simply Shelly Designs, Leanne Anderson and her daughter Kaytlyn Kuebler, Janet Rae Nesbitt, Jane Shasky and many more!

Henry gpass fabric