From Jay Pasachoff
In his article about persistent observations and the sometimes slow pace of science (19 December 2009, p 58), Stephen Battersby suggests that “a carefully controlled 10,000-year experiment should do the trick” of seeing whether “any form of silica glass is fluid at room temperature”.
That experiment has already been started. I recently saw the exhibition Molten Colour: Glassmaking in Antiquity at the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades, California. On display are beautiful glass vessels dating from 2500 BC, which makes them almost halfway through the time span Battersby calls for.
The vessels are all standing upright, showing no sign of either flow or sag.
Williamstown, Massachusetts, US
