Page 24 - The Science of Glass

From Lab to Kitchen

Glass was well in use in laboratories in the early 1900s. But it soon spread
to other industries including the railroad industry. Railroad workers had a
problem. The glass globes they used in signal lanterns often shattered in extreme
temperature changes. This was dangerous. Broken signals led to train crashes.
William Churchill and George Hollister were scientists at the Corning Glass
Works in New York. They wanted to help, so they invented a tough new type of
glass called Nonex. It was made of borosilicate. It did not expand or shrink when
hot or cold. This made it the perfect material for signal lanterns.

This locomotive relies on
Nonex glass signal lanterns.

railroad
signal
lantern

mathematics

A Model for Perfect Glass

Smartphones use very thin glass. At first, glassmakers had
problems making the glass consistently thin. They asked
scientists at Oxford University for help. The scientists developed
a mathematical model. The model predicted what glass would
do when it was stretched in a furnace. It studied the effects of
different temperatures on glass. This helped scientists discover
22 the best temperature to produce perfect glass for smartphones.