Materials · 1952

Float glass

Glass floated on molten tin makes flat, perfect sheets.

Alastair Pilkington made experimental flat glass on molten tin in December 1952. His team produced a sheet made entirely by the float process in July 1958 and announced the process in January 1959. It now makes about 90 percent of flat glass for windows and screens.

See it in the living tree Wikipedia Source

Arcs above join it to what it stood on, arcs below to what it led to. The bar places this stretch on the tree's whole timeline.

What it built on 1

Glass 2500 BCE

What it led to 1

Gorilla Glass 2007