Evening star., 1937-03-27
GLASS AGE HERE,
CERAM|ST SAYS
Scientific Background Aid
as Civilization Builds
With New Material.

Civilization Is entering the glass
age" declares A. F. Greaves- Walker.
professor of engineering at the Uni
versity of North Carolina, in a re-
port made public by the American
Chemical Society, which holds its
ninety-third meeting at the university
April 12-l5.
The next 10 years will see ad-
vances in ceramics hitherto undreamed
Of" says Prof. Greaves- Walker, point
ing out that last year saw new all
time high registered in the manu-
facture and sale of ceramic products.
Ceramics he defines as that branch
of engineering concerned with mining,
refining, and processing Of rocks and
minerals, exclusive Of coal, oil, and
ores, as SUCH" explaining that it Is
closely tied in with the chemical In
dustry.
Just ahead of us lies the glass
age" continues Prof. Greaves-Walker,
who is also head Of the department
of ceramic engineering at the North
Carolina State College of Agriculture.
1--WE have records of stone age and
an iron age. Why should we marvel
at the fact that we will, in my opinion,
very definitely enter the glass age
within the next 10 years?
Have Scientific Background.
1--WE are much better equipped for
definite entrance into this age than
our ancestors were for entrance into
the stone age or the iron age. They
Ro no oh n
ment that we know of, while we have
brought ourselves to the point where
the next step is always plain.
"Enameled iron and steel are find-
ing an Increasingly larger use in the
chemical engineering field. At present,
this industry is carrying on number
of important research projects, de-
signed to develop better acid-re-
sisting enamels. Several Of these
studies will be reported at the chem
ical society meeting.
The new tunnel under the Hudson
River is to be lined with glass, indi-
eating the increased use OF this ma
terial in huge construction projects,
and glass will be employed to an un-
precedented extent in the buildings
to be erected for the New York Worlds
Fair in 1899.
Industrial Plant Glass.
"The r. J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.
has Just put up the first al-glass
building in North Carolina. The
tendency to employ ceramic materials
more and more in the building in
dustry makes the results of expert
ments now being carried on Of ex-
treme importance, as does the large
manufacturing output of everyday
necessities such as electric refrlger-
ators and enameled metal goods Of all
types.
The enamel ware industries are
large users of acids for picking iron
and steel, also such chemicals as tin
oxides and chromium oxide, showing
the close relationship between the
ceramics and chemical industries. In
the abrasives industry, the electro
chemist, or the electro-c chemical en-
gineer, and the ceramic engineer have
Joined hands
Durability is one of the qualities
that is going to make ceramic prod
ucts more efficient. In order for
them to endure, the materials put into
them, including substances developed
through the science of ceramics, must
be of the highest quality, and in the
development of this quality chem
istry will continue to play an important
part.
There was a time when glass was
used only for windows and for orna-
mental purposes, and the saying AS
fragile as glass was a household
phrase. AS strong as steel was used
to emphasize durability. Now the
slogan 'As strong as glass might well
be used instead"