Glass is everywhere, but other than that it's made of silica just like the crystals in sand, I don't know much about the material. I wish I had more books from Science Service, because the Science Program's series gives good overviews on less popular--or "sexy" was my writing instructors joke about--topics. Something as utilitarian but taken for granted like glass making is one of those topics.

The short book covers both science and history, from the first use of obsidian rock to the modern formulas for glass used the noses of rockets. It's fascinating how humans over the ages figured out how to cook the material and add components like soda and lime to create something flexible and transparent. The use of glass goes back thousands of years but it wasn't until the late Middle Ages before it became a craft and the 1700s that it became accessible to various countries--Venice had guarded its craft and other people had to reinvent the wheel to have the same thing without the atrocious import taxes. It also doesn't sound like people had decent eye glasses until almost 1900s. Having defective eyes isn't fun or practical, and I can appreciate that particular hardship people in the Western world once had to live with.

This book also carefully nods to pure science and historic mistakes that advanced the everyday life of the average person, which I think more people in the modern world should appreciate. "It's not practical" or "that's a waste," many say, but most breakthroughs that allow our current lifestyles come from people wasting time on abstract ideas and just being curious. ( )