Science in Glass
Material Pathologies in Laboratory Research, Glassware Standardization, and the (Un)Natural History of a Modern Material, 1900s-1930s
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3540602 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Kijan Espahangizi (University of Zurich, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 113 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 221-244 |
| Publication date | 2022-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Isis (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0021-1753 • E-ISSN: 1545-6994 |
| Publisher | University of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1086/719705 |
| OpenAlex | W4281291435 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 37 |
At the turn of the twentieth century, so-called “glass diseases” seriously affected the use of scientific and technical glassware. It had become apparent by 1900 that glass, a supposedly neutral and inert material, not only interacted with its environment but also interfered with anything it contained—chemically, physically, and biologically. Starting from the assumption that modern laboratory research depends on containers that regulate the spatial, material, and epistemic enclosure of its experimental milieus and objects, this essay argues that the standardization of glass quality from the 1900s to the 1930s must be understood as a reconfiguration of a “marginal” but nonetheless constitutive element of modern laboratory environments. The aim here is thus to weave various threads together into an (un)natural history of a modern material, one that considers epistemology, technology, and ontology—or, more specifically, the changing requirements and functions of glassware in the modern laboratory, the invention of specifically adapted glass substances, and the parallel advancement of glass science and its theories of what glass actually is
Archaeology · Natural (archaeology) · Standardization · Art, Politics, and Modernism · Computer Science · Fashion and Cultural Textiles · History · Photography and Visual Culture
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,5 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2024 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |