Scientific glassblowing is a specialty field of lampworking 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’s

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

Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 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 inventi ...

’s light bulb, and

vacuum tube A vacuum tube, electron tube, 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 potential difference has been applied. The type known as ...

s used in early

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...

, TV and computers. More recently, the field has helped advance fiber optics,

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" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The fi ...

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

semiconductor A semiconductor is a material which has an electrical conductivity value falling between that of a conductor, such as copper, and an insulator, such as glass. Its resistivity falls as its temperature rises; metals behave in the opposite way. ...

s. The field combined hand skills using lathes and

torch A torch is a stick with combustible material at one end, which is ignited and used as a light source. Torches have been used throughout history, and are still used in processions, symbolic and religious events, and in juggling entertainment. I ...

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

Scientific glassblowing schools

Degree programs

Salem Community College Salem Community College (SCC) is a public community college in Salem County, New Jersey. Salem Community College's main campus is in Carneys Point Township. SCC is authorized to grant associate degrees—Associate in Arts, Associate in Fine ...

in Carney's Point, New Jersey offers the only degree program in the United States, an

Associate in Applied Science An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree. The f ...

, 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 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 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, or Bama) is a public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and largest of the publi ...

* Arizona State University *

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies an ...

Grinnell College Grinnell College is a private liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa, United States. It was founded in 1846 when a group of New England Congregationalists established the Trustees of Iowa College. Grinnell has the fifth highest endowment-to-stu ...

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

University of Oklahoma , mottoeng = "For the benefit of the Citizen and the State" , type = Public research university , established = , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.7billion (2021) , pr ...

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and mone ...

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 Newcom ...

Clarence Madison Dally Clarence Madison Dally (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. Early life and education Clarence ...

(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 Geissler tube, made of glass and used as a low pressure gas-discharge tube. Geissler desc ...

(invented the

Geissler tube A Geissler tube is an early gas discharge tube used to demonstrate the principles of electrical glow discharge, similar to modern neon lighting. The tube was invented by the German physicist and glassblower Heinrich Geissler in 1857. It cons ...

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

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

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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