\section{Beginnings}

The origins of glass are lost in the misty origins of human civilization itself. Natural glass has existed since the beginnings of time, formed when certain types of rocks melt as a result of high-temperature phenomena such as volcanic eruptions, lightning strikes or the impact of meteorites, and then cool and solidify rapidly. Naturally occurring glass, such as obsidian, has been used since the Stone Age. Primitive tools chipped from natural volcanic glass appear to have been used since about 48,000 BCE.\footnote{\BrHammesfahrQOYI{}, 1} Beads of glazed stone have been dated to at least 4000 BCE.\footnote{Phillips, 11}

The first account of the origins of glass was written by the Roman encyclopedist, Pliny the Elder (23\EnDash{}79 C.E.). (As Commander of the Roman Fleet, perished attempting to rescue survivors of the volcanic eruption of Vesuvius.\footnote{Pliny the Younger, Letter to Tacitus, Letter 6.16}) In his \Title{Natural History} Vol. 36 he relates:

\begin{quote}
``There is a story that once a ship belonging to some traders in natural soda put in here and that they scattered along the shore to prepare a meal. Since, however, no stones suitable for supporting their cauldrons were forthcoming, they rested them on lumps of soda from their cargo. When these became heated and were completely mingled with the sand on the beach a strange translucent liquid flowed forth in streams; and this, it is said, was the origin of glass''.\footnote{Pliny, 36:191, p. 151}
\end{quote}

Thus, according to Pliny, did humanity chance upon the recipe for making glass. Unfortunately, it is simply not possible to achieve the necessary heat to create glass with a campfire\EmDash{}a proper furnace is required, so Pliny's account is definitely fanciful.

Glass isn't made in Nature in a process that human beings can observe and imitate (like inside volcanoes). Manmade glass requires sand, and alkali (various choices for this), heated to temperatures that require a real furnace to achieve\EmDash{}expensive to build and operate. The ancient alchemist who was just trying combinations of materials in their furnace to see what happened (and that could be hazardous), thus discovering glass, would have to be our first Extraordinary Person in the history of the \glassarmonica{}.\footnote{Even this is an oversimplification. For a thorough examination of ancient glassmaking technology, see Kurinsky.}

