Pyrex

Two heat-resistant measuring cups with the Pyrex brand. The left cup is made of tempered soda-lime glass , recognizable by its slightly greenish color. The right cup bears the older shape of the logo and is made of colorless borosilicate glass.

Pyrex is a brand name for heat-resistant glass. Originally, it was a special type of borosilicate glass that was developed by the manufacturer Corning . Today, normal tempered glass is used almost exclusively on the American (but not the European) market . In the English-speaking market, the name is used as a generic term for borosilicate glass, just like Jenaer Glas or Duran in German-speaking countries.

Under Eugene C. Sullivan , Corning developed a borosilicate glass called NONEX or CNX ( corning nonexpansion glass ) at the beginning of the 20th century . As it contained lead , it was unsuitable for the food sector. As a result, a lead-free formulation was developed by Sullivan and William C. Taylor, which was introduced in 1915 under the name Pyrex. Pyrex was one of the most important products for Corning during the Great Depression .

Before the First World War , Jenaer Glaswerke was practically a worldwide sole supplier of laboratory glass. The development of Corning was therefore considered to be important to the war effort.

Web links

Commons : Pyrex - collection of images, videos and audio files

The 1915 patent for Pyrex
Corning Incorporated by Brian Howard, October 2005 ( August 24, 2014 memento on the Internet Archive ) - History of Corning with a chapter on the history of Pyrex