Glass:: From The First Mirror To Fiber Optics, The Story Of The Substance That Changed The World - Hardcover

Ellis, William S

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0380974649 ISBN 13: 9780380974641

Publisher: William Morrow, 1998

Synopsis

In prose as crystalline as his subject, the author celebrates the versatility and functionality of glass, and explains how a substance known to all but understood by few has been shaped and molded to serve mankind in innumerable ways. Readers will learn how glass has both shaped and been shaped by man's changing relationship to the environment; how it has brought vision to the sight-deprived and to humans beings huddling in the dark; and how glass enters the 21st century yielding an almost unlimited horizon of possiblities. With grace, charm and authority, Glass delves into history, invention, manufacturing, fine art, and the myriad faces and forms of this protean substance. Whether visiting the flamboyant glass artist Dale Chihuly, dissecting the creation of a twenty-ton telescopic mirror, sampling the history of Tiffany's magnificent lamps, or watching the design and construction of the greenhouses of Kew Gardens, this book treats its readers to a multifaceted vision of a material eternally destiend to die a violent death, and to be constantly reborn in a relentlessly changing world.

About this title

About the Author

William S. Ellis was an assistant editor and editorial staff member for National Geographic for twenty-seven years. He is the author of more than forty full-length National Geographic articles on subjects ranging from the homeless people of Bikini Atoll to the underground economy of Italy, and one of the magazine's most popular and frequently reprinted articles, "Glass, Capturing the Dance of Light," which was the inspiration for this book. His articles have also appeared in Harper's, The New York Times Sunday Magazine, The Nation, Reader's Digest, and many other publications. He lives with his wife in Sarasota, Florida.

Reviews

A popularly written survey of glass, from the artifacts of ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt to modern lasers and telescopes, Ellis's first book offers a wondrous excursion into science, history, culture and invention. Through the prism of glassmaking, Ellis traces the imperial power of Rome; the spreading influence of Islam; Renaissance ferment refracted in the glassware of Venice, England and Bohemia; the founding of Jamestown, among whose first colonizers were half-a-dozen German glassblowers; and the scientific revolution. A former National Geographic editor and writer, Ellis draws on his global travels, from Babylonian ruins to Venetian factories to Corning research labs, for this dizzying, hugely entertaining and informative report. Filled with intriguing observations on milk bottles, thermometers, mirrors, paperweights, light bulbs (blown by hand until 1922) and the fish tank aboard the space shuttle Columbia, his investigation also examines weightier topics, such as fiber-optic communications systems and the disposal of radioactive materials through vitrification?turning waste into glass. His heady tour delves into future possibilities for glass and ideas on the drawing boards, including replacement body parts, nonflammable glass/plastic alloys and radioactive glass beads to kill diseased kidneys. A snappy overview of glass artistry extends from medieval stained-glass windows through London's Crystal Palace of 1851, corporate architecture, profiles of Seattle glass artists Dale Chihuly and William Morris, even an interview with virtuoso glass-harp player Jamey Turner. Ellis's amazing exploration of glass's resurgence in technology and art proves that glass, despite appearances, has muscle as well as soul. Includes eight pages of color illustrations, not seen by PW. Agent, Jane Dystel.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Glass, like the articles Ellis has written for National Geographic, contains his reflections on a wonderful journey. The book evolved from his most famous article about the ubiquitous but disregarded substance that has advanced our civilization with everything from high-rise buildings to fiber optics. Ellis's research took him around the world to discover the technological, aesthetic, and historical dimensions of his subject. In Mesopotamia (modem-day Iraq and Syria), glass was accidentally discovered by sailors cooking on the beaches some 2,250 years ago. In this ancient setting now stand the modem computerized crystal factories of Waterford. Arabs, Mongols, and Crusaders were dazzled by the beauty and utility of glassware. Possessing glass objects reflected wealth and status. The movement in glass making, however, was toward Europe, where Persian and Egyptian master craftsmen came to exhibit their skills. During the Middle Ages the world center of glass-making shifted to the island of Murano, where Venetian craftsmen formed a union whose penalty for desertion was death. Contemporary artists' glass creations command exorbitant prices. From elegant, pristine Steuben crystal to magnificent Tiffany lamps, artwork in glass rivals more highbrow art media. But the most impressive progress is in science and technology. It is impossible to imagine cars without windshields or houses without light bulbs (1.8 billion manufactured annually in the US alone). Once a fragile substance, glass can be made heat-resistant, shatterproof, even bulletproof, without sacrificing visibility. Airplane windshields withstand tremendous air pressure. Glass is used to trap radioactive waste. Radioactive glasses cure cancer. We see ourselves with mirrors and view our world more effectively with eyeglasses, telescopes, microscopes, and now fiber optics. One mile of glass fiber optics weighs only four ounces, with 25,000 times the capacity to carry information as a mile of copper wire weighing 30tons. Ellis breathes life into his technical subject. With an eloquent storyteller's charm, he chronicles the love affair between our civilization and increasingly versatile glass. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: William Morrow
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0380974649
• ISBN 13: 9780380974641
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 306