Art and Science of Glass

Much of the educational content we've created around the Chihuly Illuminated exhibition focuses on the science of glassblowing, neon illumination, and color. That's made me more curious about the relationships between glass art and science. Here are a few links to related articles I've come across recently:

Glass lenses are, of course, essential to the telescopes that make much of modern astronomy possible. This Wikipedia entry tracks the history of the telescope from its invention in 1608 through the digital age.

Blown-glass vessels are also essential to the science of chemistry. The Ohio State University's Department of Chemistry houses its own Scientific Glassblowing Laboratory. Be sure to check out their online gallery, which shows off some technique that blurs the line between art and function.

This artist creates glass sculptures of disease-causing viruses - an interesting artistic representation of what was first made visible via advanced microscope technology.

Everyone is familiar with neon light, but how does it work? This Scientific American article does a very thorough job of explaining just that.

-Jeff Sims, Educator for Adult Programs, Multimedia Producer

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