Abstract
Glass has always played a crucial role in directing the investigation of natural phenomena onto revolutionary and innovative paths. Since antiquity philosophers of nature perceived the peculiar quality of this material and their increasing attention to the extraordinarily rich and varied productions made by craftsmen after the introduction of glassblowing techniques reveal the special status glass had in the economy and culture of the Roman Empire. Because of its chemical nature, large scale production of glass was a difficult technological process which required, in addition to dexterity, a broad knowledge of different operations and devices. The fusion of glass requires high temperatures that can only be obtained with the construction of special furnaces and crucibles, combined with the accurate use of salts, namely soda and potash, which enables to decrease the degree of glass’ fusion.
Far more significant for civilization and culture than progress in the metallurgical arts up to the eighteenth century was the great advance in glass making.
Lewis Mumford, Technics and Civilization (1934)
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
An earlier version of this chapter has been presented at the workshop “Artisanal-Scientific Experts in Eighteenth-Century France and Germany”, Max Plance Institute for the History of Science, Berlin, October 22–23, 2010. I wish to thank Bruno and Jean-François Belhoste and Ursula Klein for their remarks and suggestions.
Bibliography
Beretta, M., The Alchemy of Glass: Counterfeit, Imitation, and Transmutation in Ancient Glassmaking, Sagamore Beach: Science History Publications/USA, 2009.
Bosc d’Antic, P., Mémoire qui a remporté le prix extraordinairement proposé par l’Académie royale des sciences, pour l’année 1760. Quels sont les moyens les plus propres à porter la perfection & l’économie dans les verreries de France?, Paris: A Paris, Chez Durand, 1761.
Bosc d’Antic, P., Oeuvres de M. Bosc d’Antic ; contenant plusieurs mémoires sur l’art de la verrerie, sur la faïencerie, la poterie, l’art des forges, la minéralogie, l’électricité, & sur la médicine, Paris: Rue & Hôtel Serpente, 1780, 2 vols.
Buffon, G. L. L. de, “Nouvelle invention des miroirs ardens”, in: Mémoires de mathématique et de physique, tirés des registres de l’Académie Royale des Sciences (Année 1748).
Clow, A. and Clow N. L., The Chemical Revolution. A Contribution to Social Technology, London: The Batchworth Press, 1952.
Darcet J., Berthollet, C. L., Fourcroy, A. F., “Rapport su un ouvrage de M. Loysel, qui a pour titre Essai sur les principes de l’art de la verrerie”, in: Annales de chimie, 9 (1791), pp. 113–137.
Frémy, E., La manufacture royale de glaces en France au XVIIe et au XVIIIe siècles, Paris: Plon, 1909.
Gillispie, C. C., “The Discovery of the Leblanc Process”, in: Isis, 48 (1957), pp. 152–170.
Gillispie, C. C., Science and Polity in France: The end of the Old Regime, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1980.
Goupil, M., “La Description des arts et métiers”, in: Lavoisier, Correspondance, vol. 5, Paris: Académie des Sciences, 1993, pp. 277–286.
Guerlac H., “Some French Antecedents of the Chemical Revolution”, in: Chymia, 5 (1959), pp. 73–112.
Hamon M., Mathieu C., Saint-Gobain 1665-1937. Une entreprise devant l'histoire, Paris: Fayard, 2007.
Lavoisier, A.-L., “Prix extraordinaire proposé par ordre du Roi par l'Académie des sciences pour l'année 1788 (précis de ce qui a été fait pour perfectionner le flint-glass et le verre en général),” in Lavoisier, Oeuvres, vol. 6, Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1893, pp. 20–30.
Lavoisier, A.-L., Correspondance, vol. 5, Paris: Académie des Sciences, 1993.
Lavoisier, A.-L., Macquer, P. J., “Rapport sur un mémoire relatif à la nature du verre,” (1778) in: Lavoisier, vol. 4, Oeuvres, Paris : Imprimerie Impériale, 1868, pp. 290–292.
Lespinasse, R. de, Les métiers et corporations de la ville de Paris, Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1892, vol. 2.
Loysel, P., Essai sur les principes de l’art de la verrerie, Paris: Desenne, 1799–1800.
Mahoney, M. S., “Organizing Expertise: Engineering and Public Works under Jean-Baptiste Colbert, 1662-83”, in: Osiris, 25 (2010), pp. 149–170.
Réaumur, R. F. de, Réflexions sur l’utilité dont l’Académie des sciences pourroit être au Royaume, si le Royaume luy donnoit les Secours dont elle a besoin (ca. 1716–1727), in : Ernest Maindron, L’Académie des sciences, Paris: Alcan, 1888, pp. 103–110.
Saint-Léon, E. M., Histoire des corporations de metiers depuis leurs origins jusqu’à leur suppression en 1791, Paris: Alcan, 1922.
Scoville, W. C., “State Policy and the French Glass Industry, 1640-1789”, in: The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 56, No. 3 (May 1942), pp. 430–455.
Smeaton, W. A., “Some large Burning Lenses and their Use by Eighteenth-Century French and British Chemists”, in: Annals of Science, 44 (1987), pp. 265–276.
Stahl, G. E., Physica subterranea profundum subterraneorum genesin, e principiis hucusque ignotis ostendens: opus sine pari … et Specimen Beccherianum, fundamentorum documentorum, experimentorum, 2nd edition, Lipsiae: ex officina Weidmanniana, 1738.
Taylor, F. S., A History of Industrial Chemistry, London: Heinemann, 1957
Véron, P., Verre d’optique et lunettes astronomiques, Florence: Fondazione Giorgio Ronchi, 2009.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Beretta, M. (2011). Secrecy, Industry and Science. French Glassmaking in the Eighteenth Century. In: Buchwald, J. (eds) A Master of Science History. Archimedes, vol 30. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2627-7_20
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2627-7_20
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-2626-0
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-2627-7
eBook Packages: Chemistry and Materials ScienceChemistry and Material Science (R0)