SCHOTT,OTTO AND THE INVENTION OF BOROSILICATE GLASS

Until about 1880, only two types of glass were known with respect to t heir chemical composition: soda-lime-silica glass and lead glass. Alth ough glass containing boron had been manufactured occasionally since t he Middle Ages, Otto Schott (1851 to 1935), the founder of the Glastec hnisches Laboratorium Schott & Gen. in Jena, was the first to develop borosilicate glass to a level of scientific and industrial maturity. T hus, he was the actual inventor of borosilicate glass - a new, third t ype of glass. In summer 1893 - now 100 years ago - the Glastechnisches Laboratorium put borosilicate laboratory glassware on the market for the first time. The 100th anniversary of Schott laboratory glass shoul d be the occasion to present the pioneer borosilicate glass research b y Otto Schott. At first, he developed glass containing boric acid for optics with improved and predictable optical properties. Based on this work, he turned to technical glass. Thermometer glass, laboratory gla ss and lamp chimneys were the first fields of application for chemical ly and thermally resistant borosilicate glass [1; 2, p. 20-29, 36-39; 3]. Otto Schott's invention paved the way for glass as a material to a dvance into new dimensions and provided the basis for important scient ific and technical progress. With the development and mass production of ready-to-use borosilicate glass, the Glastechnisches Laboratorium r ose from a scientifically based handwork operation to a leading intern ational group in the special glass sector.