clearly explained so as to avoid the common defect underlined in 1911 by the astronomer Percival Lowell (1855–1916) who emphasized in Mars and its Canals that “nothing in any branch of science is so little known as its articulation, — how the skeleton of it is put together, and what may be the mode of attachment of its muscles.” Whereas a very few chapters give a flavor of current technicalities involved in glass research, newly investigated topics are also considered with the goal of ensuring that the Encyclopedia remains a useful reference over an extended period of time. Although those views that are at this moment very speculative are generally not discussed at length, they may be stated in the final Perspectives of the chapters.
Given the diversity of topics treated, the name of Encyclopedia (Kuklos paideia, cycle of enlightenments, in Greek) is particularly appropriate. The surprising fact is that such a reference work was not existing at all for glass, in general, even though more than hundreds of thousands of encyclopedias have now been devoted to any topic worth of attention, including glass art in particular. The Encyclopedia consists of 10 sections preceded by a general introduction and concluded by a postface. It begins with glassmaking and continues with structural, physical, and chemical properties. The stage is then set to turn to issues pertaining to light, to the main inorganic glass families, to organically related glasses, to environmental and other industrial issues, and, finally, to the main facets of the rich glass history. Even in more than 100 chapters, it has not been possible to deal with every important topic relevant to glass. A few more chapters would have been welcomed, but their advantages would not have outweighted the inconvenience of a longer publication time, especially for the Encyclopedia contributors.
Each section is preceded by a short introduction summarizing in a few sentences the contents of its chapters for helping readers to decide which ones fit their own interest best. Another purpose of these introductions is to show that, from the first to the last, the chapters are telling a consistent story. Although efforts have been made to avoid overlap, some limited duplication was inevitable to make sure that most contributions could be read independently of the others. Of course, boundaries between chapters or sections are not always clear‐cut, so that some arbitrariness has been involved in their delineation. And whereas the scientific and technology contents of the chapters will probably speak for themselves, it might be useful to note that historical aspects are dealt with not only in the last section but also elsewhere each time they can help to open deeper perspectives. As for the Culture included in the title of the Encyclopedia, it is explicitly treated only in the very last chapter but pervades a great many others, for example, in the history section where beautiful pieces of art are in particular reproduced.
At the end of this endeavor, it is now a pleasure to acknowledge (i) the encouragement initially provided by R. Conradt, N.G. Greaves, J. Livage, J. Lucas, B. Mysen, A. Takada, and Y. Yue when the project took shape; (ii) the warm welcome this project received through G. Geiger and A. Lekhwani when submitted to the American Ceramic Society and John Wiley & Sons; (iii) the invaluable help then brought all the way by Reinhard Conradt and Akira Takada through their constant advice, support, friendship, and careful reviewing work; (iv) the great many graphics and pictures neatly prepared by Joël Dyon to highlight the matter presented in numerous chapters; (v) the efforts of 151 authors working in 23 countries who participated in this ambitious endeavor and went responsively throughout an editorial process aimed at ensuring an overall homogeneity of style and content, and incorporated in their texts the relevant historical and cultural aspects evoked by the Encyclopedia title; (vi) the thoughtful comments and apt observations provided by nearly 200 reviewers whose names are included at the beginning of every chapter to recognize publicly their contributions; (vii) the original pictures or help in different matters generously provided by colleagues, friends, and institutions whose names are mentioned at the relevant places; (viii) the Humbold Stifftung, the Ludwig‐Maximilans‐Universität, and Donald Dingwell for the fruitful work done in Munich; (ix) the so many things about glass or high‐temperature techniques and processes discussed over the years with T. Atake, J.‐L. Bernard, Y. Bottinga, R. Conradt, K.‐U. Hess, R. Kerner, B. Mysen, G. Ottonello, J.‐P. Petitet, J. Roux, A. Sipp, J.F. Stebbins, A. Takada, C. Téqui, and other colleagues too numerous to be mentioned; (x) the Table of ion data compiled by J.F. Stebbins, the help provided at various stages of this study by É. Fareau, B. Gasparyan, K.‐U. Hess, A. Hofmeister, K. Meliksetian, B. Mysen, and M. Wolf as well as thoughtful comments by J.M. Parker and R.F. Tournier on the section introductions; (xi) and finally Michael Leventhal who oversaw the project at Wiley, Stefanie Volk for copy editing and Viniprammia Premkumar for smooth and responsive production of the book.
The Encyclopedia is dedicated to them and to all people whose efforts throughout the ages made glass the astonishing, ubiquitous material it has become.
Select Additional Reading
The Vitreous State
1 Bach, H. and Krause, D. (eds.) (1992–2020). Schott Series on Glass and Ceramics, 7 vols. Berlin: Springer.
2 Binder, K. and Kob, W. (2011). Glassy Materials and Disordered Solids, 2nd ed. Singapore: World Scientific.
3 Blanshard, J.M.V. and Lillford, P.J. (1994). Glassy Sate in Food. Loughborough: Nottingham University Press.
4 Donth, E. (2001). The Glass Transition. Berlin: Springer.
5 Doremus, R.H. (1994). Glass Science, 2e. New York: Wiley.
6 Gutzow, I. and Schmelzer, J. (2013). The Vitreous State: Thermodynamics, Structure, Rheology, Crystallization. Heidelberg: Springer.
7 Kerner, R. (2006). Models of Agglomeration and Glass Transition. London: Imperial College Press.
8 Leuzzi, L. and Nieuwenhuizen, L. (2008). Thermodynamics of the Glassy State. New York: Taylor & Francis.
9 Mackenzie, J.D. (ed.) (1960–1964). Modern Aspects of the Vitreous State, 3 vols. London: Butterworth.
10 Nemilov, S.V. (1995). Thermodynamic and Kinetic Aspects of the Vitreous State. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
11 Rawson, H. (1967). Inorganic Glass Systems. London: Academic Press.
12 Scholze, H. (1991). Glass. Nature, Structure, and Properties. New York: Springer.
13 Shelby, J.E. (1997). Introduction to Glass Science and Technology. Cambridge: Royal Society of Chemistry.
14 Simmons, C.J. and El‐Bayoumi, O.H. (1993). Experimental Techniques of Glass Science. Westerville, OH: American Ceramic Society.
15 Varshneya, A. (2014). Fundamentals of Inorganic Glasses. Sheffield: Society of Glass Technology.
16 Zarzycki, J. (ed.) (1991). Glasses and Amorphous Materials. Materials Science and Technology. Weinheim: VCH.
17 Zarzycki, J. (1991). Glasses and the Vitreous State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Glass Systems and Properties
1 Affatigato, M. (ed.) (2014). Modern Glass Characterisation. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
2 Bange, K., Durán, A., and Parker, J.M. (eds.) (2014). Making Glass Better: ICG Roadmaps of Glass R&D with a 25‐Year Horizon. Madrid: Cyan.
3 Cable, M. and Parker, J.M. (1992). High‐Performance Glasses. Glasgow: Blackie.
4 Carroll, M.R. and Holloway, J.R. (eds.) (1994). Volatiles in Magmas. Reviews in Mineralogy, 30. Washington, DC: Mineralogical Society of America.
5 Cowie, J.M.G. and Arrighi, V. (2008). Polymers: Chemistry
