Glass: the chemist’s best friend

Glass blower Stan Sheldon at University of California, Riverside in 2013

Source: © Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Where would we be without our glassware? Tabitha Watson looks through the history and current state of chemistry’s favourite amorphous solid

From ancient Rome to medieval alchemists and on to the 21st century, glass has been a high-tech material and the chemist’s constant companion. But how it reach that position and what does the future hold?