What do you think?
Rate this book
The Glass Bathyscaphe
A narrative history of glass from discovery, through antiquity, the Enlightenment, the Scientific and Industrial Revolutions to the present. It charts the history of the technology but also the enabling effects of glass on such aspects of civilization as experimental science, perspective, astronomy, zoology and all manner of scientific instrumentation - plus the central role of window-glass technology in making the colder north habitable. The authors show how the divergence in glass technology between west and east (China and Japan) explains differential aspects of E/W development. The last chapter develops the intriguing thesis that glass is one of the principal factors in the development of western civilization.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2002
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 5, 2019
Alan Macfarlane & Gerry Martin's 'The Glass Bathyscaphe: How Glass Changed The World' has to be one of the most fascinating history books I've read for a long time.
Starting off with an overview of the origins of glassmaking, the book passes through various periods of history. But this is not just a summary of what is known. These two authors have a hypothesis, which they develop marvellously as the book progresses. Their contention is that glass was a necessary (though not sufficient) precondition for the Scientific Revolution which occurred in Europe following the Renaissance; and they make a convincing case for counting the Renaissance and the arrival of what they call reliable knowledge as aspects of the same thing. They compare and contrast the situation in east and west, and find many reasons for the difference in the use of glass. They also look at how social and religious conditions changed the perception of what glass could do for a society.
It's all well written, interesting and engaging - the perfect example of a history book with a 'bit more.' Too many history books I've read in the last few years have been little more than lists. This one is considerably more.
Starting off with an overview of the origins of glassmaking, the book passes through various periods of history. But this is not just a summary of what is known. These two authors have a hypothesis, which they develop marvellously as the book progresses. Their contention is that glass was a necessary (though not sufficient) precondition for the Scientific Revolution which occurred in Europe following the Renaissance; and they make a convincing case for counting the Renaissance and the arrival of what they call reliable knowledge as aspects of the same thing. They compare and contrast the situation in east and west, and find many reasons for the difference in the use of glass. They also look at how social and religious conditions changed the perception of what glass could do for a society.
It's all well written, interesting and engaging - the perfect example of a history book with a 'bit more.' Too many history books I've read in the last few years have been little more than lists. This one is considerably more.
August 30, 2023
Booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooring.
Or: How To Write A Book On Glass, But Make It As Dull As Possible
Or: How To Write A Book On Glass, But Make It As Dull As Possible
July 15, 2022
Perhaps I missed it. I don't remember reading anything about a glass bathyscaphe (a power underwater craft made mainly of glass). I checked the index: no bathyscaphe is mentioned. The title seems to refer only to the illustration on the cover. The book is focused entirely on its subtitle: 'How Glass Changed the World'.
Glass-making has been around for a long time in Eurasia but its early use was almost entirely ornamental, using opaque, coloured glass. Thin transparent glass requires glass-blowing techniques, developed “somewhere in Syria or Iraq” in c100 BCE (Ch 2). The authors carefully distinguish various uses of glass as ornaments, vessels, windows and mirrors and suggest that it was the fact that glass windows were so useful in the cold climates of northern Europe (enabling people to work indoors; there were glass windows in Britain during the Roamn occupation) that led to the emphasis on transparent glass which is so useful for the key scientific instruments that were essential for the scientific revolution (not just see-through (and heat-proof and inert) reaction vessels for chemistry but also thermometers, barometers, vacuum-pumps, telescopes and microscopes, not to mention lanterns, sextants and chronometers to assist sea travel and even light bulbs.
As well as science, the authors consider the effect of glass on art, particularly the development of perspective, which they suggest, with evidence from contemporary sources, was facilitated by the use of mirrors. They also suggest that windows encouraged paintings because both are framed and show how some early renaissance artists used panes of glass as drawing aids.
They further hypothesise that the western European cult of individuality was encouraged by glass mirrors; they suggest the rise of autobiographies correlates with the rise of glass mirrors.
They even suggest that the reason the scientific revolution did not take place in East Asia was because they never developed spectacles. The book theorises that this is because they have much higher rates of myopia than in western Europe. They hypothesise that this is because (a) the traditional rice and vegetable diet contains too little vitamin A and (b) they have a strong literary tradition, with young children forced to learn a large number of literary texts from a very early age; the resultant eye strain causes myopia. But myopia in young children is an eye defect among the relatively economically powerless so there was no need for spectacles (and a short-sighted person can still read by putting their face very close to the page); furthermore the gradual increase in long-sightedness as people age would mean that older people didn’t need spectacles. In contrast, the eye defect in the west was predominantly long-sightedness which makes it nearly impossible to read and this stimulated the demand for spectacles.
This is therefore an ambitious work! The arguments are persuasive although I was rarely convinced; perhaps a smaller focus and a greater depth of evidence would have sealed the deal. Nevertheless, it was an entertaining read. But where was the bathyscaphe?
Glass-making has been around for a long time in Eurasia but its early use was almost entirely ornamental, using opaque, coloured glass. Thin transparent glass requires glass-blowing techniques, developed “somewhere in Syria or Iraq” in c100 BCE (Ch 2). The authors carefully distinguish various uses of glass as ornaments, vessels, windows and mirrors and suggest that it was the fact that glass windows were so useful in the cold climates of northern Europe (enabling people to work indoors; there were glass windows in Britain during the Roamn occupation) that led to the emphasis on transparent glass which is so useful for the key scientific instruments that were essential for the scientific revolution (not just see-through (and heat-proof and inert) reaction vessels for chemistry but also thermometers, barometers, vacuum-pumps, telescopes and microscopes, not to mention lanterns, sextants and chronometers to assist sea travel and even light bulbs.
As well as science, the authors consider the effect of glass on art, particularly the development of perspective, which they suggest, with evidence from contemporary sources, was facilitated by the use of mirrors. They also suggest that windows encouraged paintings because both are framed and show how some early renaissance artists used panes of glass as drawing aids.
They further hypothesise that the western European cult of individuality was encouraged by glass mirrors; they suggest the rise of autobiographies correlates with the rise of glass mirrors.
They even suggest that the reason the scientific revolution did not take place in East Asia was because they never developed spectacles. The book theorises that this is because they have much higher rates of myopia than in western Europe. They hypothesise that this is because (a) the traditional rice and vegetable diet contains too little vitamin A and (b) they have a strong literary tradition, with young children forced to learn a large number of literary texts from a very early age; the resultant eye strain causes myopia. But myopia in young children is an eye defect among the relatively economically powerless so there was no need for spectacles (and a short-sighted person can still read by putting their face very close to the page); furthermore the gradual increase in long-sightedness as people age would mean that older people didn’t need spectacles. In contrast, the eye defect in the west was predominantly long-sightedness which makes it nearly impossible to read and this stimulated the demand for spectacles.
This is therefore an ambitious work! The arguments are persuasive although I was rarely convinced; perhaps a smaller focus and a greater depth of evidence would have sealed the deal. Nevertheless, it was an entertaining read. But where was the bathyscaphe?
March 13, 2019
An interesting summary of the history and uses of glass with comparisons across Europe China India and Japan. But repetitive.
August 20, 2025
An excellent thought provoking book about the effect glass has had on western civilisation. My one qualm is that the authors write in almost a scholarly way as though it is an academic thesis.
The authors detail how glass was a key component in the advancement of science and civilisation in Europe. They make a convincing argument by contrasting and comparing scientific development in the middle east and orient particularly from the 12th century on. I did find, that in common with most writers these days, they misrepresent the significance that religion played in the story. They do at one point give Christianity faint praise twice, "the expansion of Christianity , which was temporarily at least sympathetic to the study of God's law", "all the greatest medieval scientists were churchmen .... this may be due to the fact that only ordained clerics had access to the time and learning", but take it back with their sniping qualifications. For quite a scholarly tome I wish they had explained "temporarily at least" more thoroughly, when was that temporary state of affairs rescinded. A minor quibble but I'm always struck by the lazy bias against Christianity that creeps into any mention of the Church.
Another minor quibble is that they don't explain or surmise how glass was discovered. They say in the opening of chapter 2 that its origin is uncertain but then jump into early glass making techniques. I would have liked a little technical detail as to what glass is and how it is made. Appendix 1 gives some detail on different types of glass.
An enjoyable read.
The authors detail how glass was a key component in the advancement of science and civilisation in Europe. They make a convincing argument by contrasting and comparing scientific development in the middle east and orient particularly from the 12th century on. I did find, that in common with most writers these days, they misrepresent the significance that religion played in the story. They do at one point give Christianity faint praise twice, "the expansion of Christianity , which was temporarily at least sympathetic to the study of God's law", "all the greatest medieval scientists were churchmen .... this may be due to the fact that only ordained clerics had access to the time and learning", but take it back with their sniping qualifications. For quite a scholarly tome I wish they had explained "temporarily at least" more thoroughly, when was that temporary state of affairs rescinded. A minor quibble but I'm always struck by the lazy bias against Christianity that creeps into any mention of the Church.
Another minor quibble is that they don't explain or surmise how glass was discovered. They say in the opening of chapter 2 that its origin is uncertain but then jump into early glass making techniques. I would have liked a little technical detail as to what glass is and how it is made. Appendix 1 gives some detail on different types of glass.
An enjoyable read.
August 7, 2014
A non fiction book positing that the invention ability to produce from raw materials and use of glass is what enabled western societies to make great strides in scientific discovery.
However it occurred to me that in Korea ,for example, artists were able to make minute items out of metals, so did they use magnifiers to help them ? Have not been able to find out the answer to this as yet
However it occurred to me that in Korea ,for example, artists were able to make minute items out of metals, so did they use magnifiers to help them ? Have not been able to find out the answer to this as yet
April 5, 2016
A fascinating subject
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews