Scientific glassblowing is a specialty field of

lampworking Lampworking is a type of glasswork in which a Blowtorch, torch or lamp is used to melt the glass. Once in a molten state, the glass is formed by blowing and shaping with tools and hand movements. It is also known as flameworking or torchworking, ...

used in industry, science, art and design used in research and production. Scientific glassblowing has been used in chemical, pharmaceutical, electronic and physics research including

Galileo Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642), commonly referred to as Galileo Galilei ( , , ) or mononymously as Galileo, was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a poly ...

thermometer A thermometer is a device that measures temperature (the hotness or coldness of an object) or temperature gradient (the rates of change of temperature in space). A thermometer has two important elements: (1) a temperature sensor (e.g. the bulb ...

Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February11, 1847October18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventions, ...

light bulb Electric light is an artificial light source powered by electricity. Electric Light may also refer to: * Light fixture, a decorative enclosure for an electric light source * ''Electric Light'' (album), a 2018 album by James Bay * Electric Light ( ...

, and

vacuum tube A vacuum tube, electron tube, thermionic valve (British usage), or tube (North America) is a device that controls electric current flow in a high vacuum between electrodes to which an electric voltage, potential difference has been applied. It ...

s used in early

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

, TV and

computer A computer is a machine that can be Computer programming, programmed to automatically Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (''computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic set ...

s. More recently, the field has helped advance

fiber optics An optical fiber, or optical fibre, is a flexible glass or plastic fiber that can transmit light from one end to the other. Such fibers find wide usage in fiber-optic communications, where they permit transmission over longer distances and at ...

laser A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word ''laser'' originated as an acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radi ...

s, atomic and subatomic particle research, advanced communications development and

semiconductor A semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity between that of a conductor and an insulator. Its conductivity can be modified by adding impurities (" doping") to its crystal structure. When two regions with different doping level ...

s. The field combined hand skills using

lathe A lathe () is a machine tool that rotates a workpiece about an axis of rotation to perform various operations such as cutting, sanding, knurling, drilling, deformation, facing, threading and turning, with tools that are applied to the w ...

s and

torch A torch is a stick with combustible material at one end which can be used as a light source or to set something on fire. Torches have been used throughout history and are still used in processions, symbolic and religious events, and in juggl ...

es with modern computer assisted furnaces, diamond grinding and lapping machines, lasers and ultra-sonic mills.

Scientific glassblowing schools

Degree programs

Salem Community College in

Carney's Point, New Jersey Carneys Point Township is a Township (New Jersey), township in Salem County, New Jersey, Salem County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 8,637, an increase of 588 (+7.3%) from the ...

offers the only degree program in the United States, an Associate in Applied Science, with a focus on the construction of scientific glass apparatus. Students come from throughout the United States and from around the world to develop this specialized skill at Salem Community College.

Alfred University Alfred University is a private university in Alfred, New York, United States. It has a total undergraduate population of approximately 1,600 students. The university hosts the statutory New York State College of Ceramics, which includes The In ...

offers a masters program in glass science and a PhD with a blend of theoretical and applied studies similar to degree programs in

materials science Materials science is an interdisciplinary field of researching and discovering materials. Materials engineering is an engineering field of finding uses for materials in other fields and industries. The intellectual origins of materials sci ...

and engineering.

Universities offering courses

The following is the list of recognized universities that provide courses in scientific glassblowing: *

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, the Capstone, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of ...

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

Grinnell College Grinnell College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa, United States. It was founded in 1846 when a group of Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalis ...

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

* Salem Community College *

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

Notable scientific glassblowers

John Calley (engineer) John Calley (also spelt Cawley) (1663 – May 1725, The Hague), was a metalworker, plumber and glass-blower, who became famous for being Thomas Newcomen's partner. Like Newcomen, he was a member of a Dartmouth family. He helped develop the Newco ...

Clarence Madison Dally Clarence Madison Dally (January 8, 1865 – October 2, 1904) was an American glassblower, noted as an assistant to Thomas Edison in his work on X-rays and as an early victim of radiation dermatitis and its complications. He is thought to be the f ...

(killed by X-ray exposure in the course of his work) *

Heinrich Geißler Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Geißler (26 May 1814 in Igelshieb – 24 January 1879) was a skilled glassblower and physicist, famous for his invention of the hand pumped Geissler mercury vacuum pump in the mid-1850's and in 1857, the Geissler tube ...

(invented the

Geissler tube A Geissler tube is a precursor to modern gas discharge tubes, demonstrating the principles of electrical glow discharge, akin to contemporary neon lights, and central to the discovery of the electron. This device was developed in 1857 by Hein ...

) * Jorg Meyer *

Mitsugi Ohno was a Japanese glassblowing, glassblower who worked at the University of Tokyo (1947–1960) and Kansas State University (1961–1996). He was known for blowing a glass Klein bottle and glass models of historic buildings and ships. He told peo ...

Joseph Patrick Slattery Joseph Patrick Slattery, Congregation of the Mission, CM (21 May 1866 – 31 March 1931) was an Irish-born physicist, radiologist, Catholic priest, pioneer in the field of radiography in Australia and credited with the first use of fluoroscopy in ...

(radiography pioneer blew much of his own lab glassware) *

Arthur Compton Arthur Holly Compton (September 10, 1892 – March 15, 1962) was an American particle physicist who won the 1927 Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery of the Compton effect, which demonstrated the particle nature of electromagnetic radiati ...

https://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+meeting+on+the+beach%3a+Compton%2c+Oppenheimer%2c+and+the+atomic+bomb.-a0240992474

American Scientific Glassblowers Society

The American Scientific Glassblowers Society (ASGS) is an association for scientific glassblowers and provides continuing education programs.American Scientific Glassblowers Society home page
retrieved 2015-05-15. The community is relatively small, with approximately 650 members.

References

{{Reflist

External links

American Scientific Glassblowers SocietyBritish Society of Scientific GlassblowersScientific Glassblowers Society of Australia and New ZealandVideo of scientific glassblowing at Arizona State University
Glassblowers Laboratory glassware Laboratory equipment Science occupations