Fear and Fragility: The Glass Delusion and Its History

Intriguing article. The pattern is compelling, that perhaps there is something in the human condition that is attracted to the idea 'i'm made of this newly arrived magical stuff, and you can't prove otherwise'. New generations get to choose new stuff.

I'm reminded of Goethe's description of an athiest as a person with 'no invisible means of support'.

As I was reading, I was hoping to find an aside about the role of lead in glass production, but I suppose that'd be a distraction.

The Glass Delusion is one of those medieval conditions that sounds made up until you read about it. Says a lot that we had a named syndrome for people who thought they were made of glass.