For reference, I am talking about this:
en.m.wikipedia.org
Assuming that this legend is real, what could vitrum flexile be used for?
What if the invention of vitrum flexile was not lost
- Thread starter moistrophile
- Start date
This Researchgate article proposes that it might have been a form of borosilicate glass.
An AH idea I read years ago on an Italian website mentioned resin (tree sap) as a possible substitute for artificial plastic, and resin was widely available back then, so...
Better and more exotic glassware? I mean, I know they could do a lot of things if this "flexible glass" is actually borosilicate glass, but the main problem would be making big quantities of it with the technology of that time. If you don't have that, this kind of glass would be just a "circus novelty" for a long time, like the steam engines (aka, the Aeolipile) were.
Either way, this could mean an earlier introduction of reliable lenses, which could kickstart the production of basic telescopes and microscopes, with all the issues that would bring (Earlier heliocentric model? Earlier germ theory of disease?).
Or this could go the way of the gunpowder if they want to weaponize it. Crystal armors and helmets, anyone?
Either way, this could mean an earlier introduction of reliable lenses, which could kickstart the production of basic telescopes and microscopes, with all the issues that would bring (Earlier heliocentric model? Earlier germ theory of disease?).
Or this could go the way of the gunpowder if they want to weaponize it. Crystal armors and helmets, anyone?
We still don't have flexible glass as such, so I'm pretty confident that the ancients - who lacked our materials science, high temperature furnaces and analytical techniques - didn't either. This is mostly down to glass just not being particularly flexible, although that can be managed to some extent by tightly controlled manufacture to avoid the presence of defects (as with optical fibres, but also fibreglass).
But I'm willing to believe that there were ways of making flexible things that were reasonably glass-like. Mica sheets, natural lacquers and resins, thin vellum, for example would be impressively useful in pre-polymer times.
But I'm willing to believe that there were ways of making flexible things that were reasonably glass-like. Mica sheets, natural lacquers and resins, thin vellum, for example would be impressively useful in pre-polymer times.
Windows made of flexible glass would be impervious to little boys with sling shots.For reference, I am talking about this:
Assuming that this legend is real, what could vitrum flexile be used for?Flexible glass - Wikipedia
In Roman times, sling shot was probably a bit more destructive than the old rubber band and forked stick so you might be being a tad optimistic.
I had a read of the Wikipedia article and sadly the story is a crock (ancient urban legemd as cautionary tale?). The Wikipedia article is also a bit suspect in places (surely not!), but explaining why making glass fibres thinner makes it stronger would take too much work.
Materials 101.
Most materials are weaker in bulk than they should be in theory. This is because they include defects from tiny atomic scale ones to visible cracks, voids, inclusions etc. The bigger these are (up to a point) the more they weaken the material.
So a small component like a very thin glass fibre is too small to contain a big defect so will be closer to theoretical strength.
Most glass is also full of residual stresses when freshly made (these cause the fancy patterns that show up when using polarised sunglasses). The stresses in the glass can combine with stresses from everyday handling and bumps to make the glass easier to break. If patient, these residual stresses will dissipate over a few decades or centuries. More practically, careful heat treatment can reduce or remove them in hours to days.
So optical and near IR fibres are stronger due to special treatment and to size effects.
So I was wrong, it wasn't that hard to explain.
Most materials are weaker in bulk than they should be in theory. This is because they include defects from tiny atomic scale ones to visible cracks, voids, inclusions etc. The bigger these are (up to a point) the more they weaken the material.
So a small component like a very thin glass fibre is too small to contain a big defect so will be closer to theoretical strength.
Most glass is also full of residual stresses when freshly made (these cause the fancy patterns that show up when using polarised sunglasses). The stresses in the glass can combine with stresses from everyday handling and bumps to make the glass easier to break. If patient, these residual stresses will dissipate over a few decades or centuries. More practically, careful heat treatment can reduce or remove them in hours to days.
So optical and near IR fibres are stronger due to special treatment and to size effects.
So I was wrong, it wasn't that hard to explain.
Might it have been horn, like what some medieval buildings used in their windows?
It's just this one bit...
...from this website.
Basically, OTL chemist goes into the agricultural sciences instead; while researching a variety of corn capable of yields high enough to feed the Third World, he stumbles upon a way to produce artificial resin from corn, that behaves like plastic but is biodegradable. The downside of such a scenario would be even more fields cleared to make space for corn, though.
Last edited:
Alcsentre Calanice
Gone Fishin'
Very cool, thank you. Do you think this website will publish any of its ucronie progettate?
There's full-length AH on the website, too - but I doubt they'll ever publish anything as an e-book, or on paper.
And, honestly - several of the AH works on there are butterfly genocide, when they aren't biased towards a Roman Catholic worldview; not an overly reactionary one, it's more in line with Tolkien's benevolent conservatism, but the bias still shows.
unprincipled peter
Donor
pffft...
Everyone knows transparent aluminum was invented in the 1980s by Scotty for the purposes of transporting whales.
Everyone knows transparent aluminum was invented in the 1980s by Scotty for the purposes of transporting whales.