_references


Bolas, Bernard. A Handbook of Laboratory Glass-Blowing; Volume 2. Franklin Classics, 2018.


[outbound link to E-Book]Walas, Joe. “The Scientific Glassblowing Learning Center.”


[outbound link to website]Hopman, Rebecca. “Steam Engines.” Gathering A Crowd, 2020.


[outbound link to E-Book]Dunham, Bandhu Scott. Contemporary Lampworking: A Practical Guide to Shaping Glass in the Flame (Volume I, II and III) Third Edition. 3rd ed., Salusa Glassworks, 2003.

April 14, 1880 advertisement for Woodroffe’s Original Bohemian Glass Blowers in the Harrisburg Telegraph. Source: Newspapers.com

S. Owen

“By the mid-1800s, audiences were hungry for scientific knowledge, and some glassworkers centered their entire shows around science and natural philosophy. Professor S. Owen gave a lecture on natural philosophy, all while demonstrating the “action of water in vacuum” with a philosopher’s hammer, the “principle on which thunder is produced” using vacuum bulbs, and the “elasticity of the air” with balloons. Other popular experiments included pulse glass circulators, cryophorus deception glasses, and hydro-pneumatic fountains.” [reference]

S. Owen styled himself as a professor and featured many scientific experiments and displays in his exhibition. He also gave lectures on natural philosophy. Science and Art Prof. Owen, O. Dickinson, 1850. Collection of the Rakow Research Library, The Corning Museum of Glass, CMGL 142780.