During the twentieth century, heat-resistant borosilicate glass replaced more fragile flint or soda-lime glass. Although German optician Carl Zeiss (1816-1888) began experiments with heat-resistant glass for use in microscopes by adding boric acid to silicon, the stronger material evolved from the Corning Glass Works’ invention of oven-proof Nonex and Pyrex in 1915, and Vycor, an essential material in stove heating elements. Later varieties include Pyroceram, Kimax, and Corning Ware, a multipurpose ceramic material used to make freezer-to-table dishes for freezing, cooking, baking, microwaving, and serving as well as for laboratory equipment.

Since the 1870s, the Corning Glass Works has developed and improved other heat-resistant glass products with practical applications, particularly globes for incandescent lighting, weatherproof lenses for railroad signal lanterns, and colorants for lens glass.

Developed by Eugene G. Sullivan and William C. Taylor for Corning Glass Works in 1915, Corning Ware evolved from an experiment by the...