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Laboratory glassware
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=== Modern era === [[File:Women at War, 1914-1918 Q28370.jpg|thumb|A chemist with laboratory glassware, November 1918]] Many glasses that were produced in bulk in the 1830s would quickly become unclear and dirty because of the low quality glass being used.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Espahangizi |first=Kijan |title=From Topos to Oikos: The Standardization of Glass Containers as Epistemic Boundaries in Modern Laboratory Research (1850โ1900) |journal=Science in Context |year=2015 |volume=28 |issue=3 |pages=397โ425|doi=10.1017/S0269889715000137 |pmid=26256505 |s2cid=45645118 |url=https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/155318/1/ZORA_NL_155318.pdf }}</ref> During the 19th century, more chemists began to recognize the importance of glassware due to its transparency, and the ability to control the conditions of experiments.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Jackson |first=Catherine M. |date=2015-03-01 |title=The "Wonderful Properties of Glass": Liebig'sKaliapparatand the Practice of Chemistry in Glass |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/681036 |journal=Isis |volume=106 |issue=1 |pages=43โ69 |doi=10.1086/681036 |pmid=26027307 |s2cid=8478216 |issn=0021-1753}}</ref> [[Jรถns Jacob Berzelius]], who invented the [[test tube]], and [[Michael Faraday]] both contributed to the rise of chemical glassblowing. Faraday published ''Chemical Manipulation'' in 1827 which detailed the process for creating many types of small tube glassware and some experimental techniques for tube chemistry.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Chemical manipulation; being instructions to students in chemistry, on the methods of performing experiments of demonstration or of research, with accuracy and success / By Michael Faraday. |url=https://wellcomecollection.org/works/dmqcm6vu |access-date=2022-03-25 |website=Wellcome Collection |language=en}}</ref> Berzelius wrote a similar textbook titled ''Chemical Operations and Apparatus'' which provided a variety of chemical glassblowing techniques.<ref name=":1" /> The rise of this chemical glassblowing widened the availability of chemical experimentation and led to a shift towards the dominant use of glassware in laboratories. With the emergence of glassware in laboratories, the need for organization and standards arose. The ''Prussian Society for the Advancement of Industry'' was one of the earliest organizations to support the collaborative improvement of the quality of glass used.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Espahangizi |first=Kijan |date=2015-08-10 |title=From Topos to Oikos: The Standardization of Glass Containers as Epistemic Boundaries in Modern Laboratory Research (1850โ1900) |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0269889715000137 |journal=Science in Context |volume=28 |issue=3 |pages=397โ425 |doi=10.1017/s0269889715000137 |pmid=26256505 |s2cid=45645118 |issn=0269-8897|hdl=20.500.11850/103657 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Following the development of [[borosilicate glass]] by [[Otto Schott]] in the late 19th century, most laboratory glassware was manufactured in Germany up until the start of [[World War I]].<ref name=":2">{{cite journal|last1=Jensen|first1=William|title=The origin of pyrex|journal=Journal of Chemical Education|date=2006|volume=83|issue=5|page=692|doi=10.1021/ed083p692|bibcode=2006JChEd..83..692J}}</ref> Before World War I, glass producers in the United States had difficulty competing with German laboratory glassware manufacturers because laboratory glassware was classified as educational material and was not subject to an import tax. During World War I, the supply of laboratory glassware to the United States was cut off.<ref name=":2" /> In 1915 [[Corning Inc.|Corning Glassworks]] developed their own borosilicate glass, introduced under the name [[Pyrex]]. This was a boon to the war effort in the United States.<ref name=":2" /> Though many laboratories turned back to imports after the war ended, research into better glassware flourished. Glassware became more resistant to [[thermal shock]] while maintaining [[Chemically inert|chemical inertness]].<ref name="history1">{{cite journal |last1=Donnelly |first1=Alan |date=March 1970 |title=History of Laboratory Glassware |journal=Laboratory Medicine|doi=10.1093/labmed/1.3.28 }}</ref> During the 1920s efforts to [[Standardization|standardise]] the dimensions of laboratory glassware began, particularly for [[ground glass joints]], with some manufacturer specific standardisation beginning to occur around this time. Commercial standards began development around 1930, allowing the compatibility of joints between different manufacturers for the first time, along with other features.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sella2020-01-06T12:05:00+00:00 |first=Andrea |title=The story of Quickfit, part one: Friedrich's joints |url=https://www.chemistryworld.com/opinion/the-story-of-quickfit-part-one-friedrichs-joints/4010557.article |access-date=2024-02-28 |website=Chemistry World |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The story of Quickfit, part two: Flaigโs joints |url=https://www.chemistryworld.com/opinion/the-story-of-quickfit-part-two-flaigs-joints/4010728.article |access-date=2024-02-28 |website=Chemistry World |language=en}}</ref> This quickly led to the high degree of standardisation and [[modularity]] seen in modern glassware.
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