8 ms·

While unfortunate, Caltech had years to let the current glassblowr train a replacement - it's not like this was an unforeseeable event. While it's unfortunate

While unfortunate, Caltech had years to let the current glassblowr train a replacement - it's not like this was an unforeseeable event. While it's unfortunate that it's a struggle to find a replacement now - and from the outside I don't know what went on leading up to this - I can't help but think if they'd set the budget for it a decade ago, they wouldn't be in this situation.

1_listerine_pls 10y ago
Now we need a massive governmental program to encourage children to become scientific glass blowers and promote tons of glass blowing courses on Udacity.
- venomsnake 10y ago
  I do look like a decent hobby and craft. Probably on par with knifemaking.
  - lsiebert 10y ago
    given that they have to craft a design for an apparatus based in part on a knowledge of chemistry so they understand the experiment, thermodynamics, as well as material science, etc, I wouldn't be surprised if it's more complex then knifemaking.
    - venomsnake 10y ago
      > part on a knowledge of chemistry so they understand the experiment, thermodynamics, as well as material science, etc, By coincidence proper heat treatment requires all of those too :) Depending on how deep you want to plunge.
      - chongli 10y ago
        The difference is that a knife isn't likely to explode, sending hot, toxic gases and acids all over the laboratory.
        deleted 10y ago
        [deleted]
        abakker 10y ago
        Not to belabor the point, but Knifemaking _can_ involve exposure to high temperature molten salt baths (Sodium and Nitrate salts), liquid nitrogen, precise timing, temperature control, and varieties of chemical etchants. It seems that they probably have similar risks, though glassblowing for the lab might require a broader domain knowledge.
        chongli 10y ago
        You're talking about knife-making, I'm talking about knife-using. While it may be the case that a knife-maker works with high temperatures and toxic substances, it is not the case for a knife-user. Users of laboratory glassware, on the other hand, are constantly risking exposure to this stuff. They depend on high quality glassware to keep them safe. The consequences for using a poorly-made Erlenmeyer flask are potentially devastating on a far larger scale than for a poorly-made knife.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - apalmer 10y ago
    Naw, its not really a hobby level thing. It is relatively straightforward to take a glassblowing class and make some hobby level glassware... This is a much different level of commitment and skill.
- vonklaus 10y ago
  I suspect that when basic income is implemented and people largely don't have vocational fufillment, many people will make functional artisitc works by learning about glass blowing on coursera and other places and mastering such a craft for its own sake. edit: changed is => when
  - HeyLaughingBoy 10y ago
    I have no reason why you are being downvoted; you're making a valid point. One of the reasons I strive to become financially independent of any one company is exactly so I have the freedom to do things like this.
    - vonklaus 10y ago
      Thanks. I consider myself a capitalist. I have heard SA say[0]; and find myself to agree with how I perceived those remarks, that capitalism is the best paradigm we have to structure the world out of the current choices of organization. That said, there are inherent problems with markets and we can correct for some of those externalities with other things (many outside the scope of this response) but one of which is to equalize for health, food and shelter with a basic income. As indicated in a recent post on HN there is already a company working on creating an autonomous pizza truck that will prepare hot food in route to a location serving it hot at arrival. Coupled with autonomous vehicle technology, we will soon see the evaportion of labor jobs MUCH quicker than many expect. As we use our resources better, I find that elevating the bottom is important, while still allowing for capitalism and free markets to keep the top uncapped. Artistic pursuits; as well as things machines can certainly do as well or better than humans, is not only anthropologically important but certainly skills we would want to retain if there were ever to be a failure of mechanization. [0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuijDaj8DvA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuijDaj8DvA
      - deleted 10y ago
        [deleted]
- DonHopkins 10y ago
  Trump is going to build a dome!
- HeyLaughingBoy 10y ago
  As weed becomes legal in more and more places it could also be a lucrative profession...
  - mosdave 10y ago
    that's lampwork, which is a bit different.
  - eonw 10y ago
    on the contrary more and more usable glass art is being blown in mexico or southeast asia, due to cheaper labor, lax oversight and economics. the equipment is not expensive enough to prevent most apprentices in US/EU/CA to just go out on their own after a while. where as in lower income countries the apprentice is easier to keep for a much longer timeline.
venomsnake 10y ago
And that is why professional administrators should be in the middle and not on top of things. To be at the top you must have been in the trenches at least a couple of years.
- frozenport 10y ago
  Perhaps nobody actually needs university glass blowers, and the administration made the correct choice? Many of the components that needed to be hand made in the 1960s, can be found scientific catalogs.
  - heisenbit 10y ago
    You are probably right. The bulk can be bought cheaply. The challenge lies in how to get the special cases covered. The capability for the special cases used to be covered by master craftsmen at the top of a pyramid who leveraged the infrastructure and also educational system of a large workshop. The bulk is gone. The local cross subsidy is gone. And now the local capability is dying off. In theory modern CAD etc. can help to design. In theory money saved on the bulk can be used to order in a specialized shop. But it is a difference having a master locally advising mechanically challenged chemistry Ph.D. on the same science team vs.a paid consultant remotely playing for another financial team. And I doubt the saved money will be available for the Ph.D. students.
    - liotier 10y ago
      > In theory modern CAD etc. can help to design Only if you know the limits of the physical manufacturing process - otherwise you are going to design the perfect bizarre piece that your experiment needs, only to find later that glass blowing can't produce it.
  - taneq 10y ago
    If nothing you're doing requires custom-built components that you can't buy from a catalog, you're probably not doing very much that's actually new.
thearn4 10y ago
Effective knowledge capture is a huge problem in a lot of fields right now.
- nathanaldensr 10y ago
  I disagree. The real problem is that no one wants to pay for it. The tools are certainly there to capture knowledge, but everyone's trying to cut costs so much in a desire to optimize for the present.
  - ianai 10y ago
    Let's not forget all the people that would love to be the person receiving said information. But again, not happening.
  - dpcx 10y ago
    That doesn't disagree with the GPs comment at all. Whether it's for budgetary reasons or technological ones, the effectiveness of knowledge capture is still a huge problem.
  - CognitiveLens 10y ago
    Sounds like you actually agree, and have identified an underlying problem. The technical ability to capture knowledge, particularly for craft trades like glassblowing, has existed for as long as humans have been organized into societies - it's usually a question of dedicating resources to support it. The apprenticeship model needs a renaissance.
    - losteric 10y ago
      We need to get away from the dogma that everyone must and will get a college degree. Apprenticeships are as good, if not better, for many fields... especially in the world of software.
      - andrewflnr 10y ago
        Eh, it's going to be hard to replace a proper algorithms or computability class with an apprenticeship. I'd like to see a combined approach, classes in between an apprenticeship-style arrangement.
mcphage 10y ago
Yeah. On one hand, this is a shame. On the other, it's a problem entirely of their own making, caused by their short-sighted budgeting.
djsumdog 10y ago
It's like that parable of the monastery that used a main support pillar made from a very massive 80 year old tree. They planted another tree like it on the grounds of the monastery for when it needed to be replaced. A century later, the central pillar is in bad shape, so they cut down the tree and carve a new pillar. ... and never replace the tree they just cut down.
jdc0589 10y ago
I was gonna say...if it's that critical, SURELY they've made him take on an apprentice.
- eonw 10y ago
  it just wasnt critical to those making budget decisions.

1_listerine_pls 10y ago

Now we need a massive governmental program to encourage children to become scientific glass blowers and promote tons of glass blowing courses on Udacity.

venomsnake 10y ago
I do look like a decent hobby and craft. Probably on par with knifemaking.
- lsiebert 10y ago
  given that they have to craft a design for an apparatus based in part on a knowledge of chemistry so they understand the experiment, thermodynamics, as well as material science, etc, I wouldn't be surprised if it's more complex then knifemaking.
  - venomsnake 10y ago
    > part on a knowledge of chemistry so they understand the experiment, thermodynamics, as well as material science, etc, By coincidence proper heat treatment requires all of those too :) Depending on how deep you want to plunge.
    - chongli 10y ago
      The difference is that a knife isn't likely to explode, sending hot, toxic gases and acids all over the laboratory.
      - deleted 10y ago
        [deleted]
      - abakker 10y ago
        Not to belabor the point, but Knifemaking _can_ involve exposure to high temperature molten salt baths (Sodium and Nitrate salts), liquid nitrogen, precise timing, temperature control, and varieties of chemical etchants. It seems that they probably have similar risks, though glassblowing for the lab might require a broader domain knowledge.
        chongli 10y ago
        You're talking about knife-making, I'm talking about knife-using. While it may be the case that a knife-maker works with high temperatures and toxic substances, it is not the case for a knife-user. Users of laboratory glassware, on the other hand, are constantly risking exposure to this stuff. They depend on high quality glassware to keep them safe. The consequences for using a poorly-made Erlenmeyer flask are potentially devastating on a far larger scale than for a poorly-made knife.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- apalmer 10y ago
  Naw, its not really a hobby level thing. It is relatively straightforward to take a glassblowing class and make some hobby level glassware... This is a much different level of commitment and skill.
vonklaus 10y ago
I suspect that when basic income is implemented and people largely don't have vocational fufillment, many people will make functional artisitc works by learning about glass blowing on coursera and other places and mastering such a craft for its own sake. edit: changed is => when
- HeyLaughingBoy 10y ago
  I have no reason why you are being downvoted; you're making a valid point. One of the reasons I strive to become financially independent of any one company is exactly so I have the freedom to do things like this.
  - vonklaus 10y ago
    Thanks. I consider myself a capitalist. I have heard SA say[0]; and find myself to agree with how I perceived those remarks, that capitalism is the best paradigm we have to structure the world out of the current choices of organization. That said, there are inherent problems with markets and we can correct for some of those externalities with other things (many outside the scope of this response) but one of which is to equalize for health, food and shelter with a basic income. As indicated in a recent post on HN there is already a company working on creating an autonomous pizza truck that will prepare hot food in route to a location serving it hot at arrival. Coupled with autonomous vehicle technology, we will soon see the evaportion of labor jobs MUCH quicker than many expect. As we use our resources better, I find that elevating the bottom is important, while still allowing for capitalism and free markets to keep the top uncapped. Artistic pursuits; as well as things machines can certainly do as well or better than humans, is not only anthropologically important but certainly skills we would want to retain if there were ever to be a failure of mechanization. [0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuijDaj8DvA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuijDaj8DvA
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
DonHopkins 10y ago
Trump is going to build a dome!
HeyLaughingBoy 10y ago
As weed becomes legal in more and more places it could also be a lucrative profession...
- mosdave 10y ago
  that's lampwork, which is a bit different.
- eonw 10y ago
  on the contrary more and more usable glass art is being blown in mexico or southeast asia, due to cheaper labor, lax oversight and economics. the equipment is not expensive enough to prevent most apprentices in US/EU/CA to just go out on their own after a while. where as in lower income countries the apprentice is easier to keep for a much longer timeline.

venomsnake 10y ago

And that is why professional administrators should be in the middle and not on top of things. To be at the top you must have been in the trenches at least a couple of years.

frozenport 10y ago
Perhaps nobody actually needs university glass blowers, and the administration made the correct choice? Many of the components that needed to be hand made in the 1960s, can be found scientific catalogs.
- heisenbit 10y ago
  You are probably right. The bulk can be bought cheaply. The challenge lies in how to get the special cases covered. The capability for the special cases used to be covered by master craftsmen at the top of a pyramid who leveraged the infrastructure and also educational system of a large workshop. The bulk is gone. The local cross subsidy is gone. And now the local capability is dying off. In theory modern CAD etc. can help to design. In theory money saved on the bulk can be used to order in a specialized shop. But it is a difference having a master locally advising mechanically challenged chemistry Ph.D. on the same science team vs.a paid consultant remotely playing for another financial team. And I doubt the saved money will be available for the Ph.D. students.
  - liotier 10y ago
    > In theory modern CAD etc. can help to design Only if you know the limits of the physical manufacturing process - otherwise you are going to design the perfect bizarre piece that your experiment needs, only to find later that glass blowing can't produce it.
- taneq 10y ago
  If nothing you're doing requires custom-built components that you can't buy from a catalog, you're probably not doing very much that's actually new.

thearn4 10y ago

Effective knowledge capture is a huge problem in a lot of fields right now.

nathanaldensr 10y ago
I disagree. The real problem is that no one wants to pay for it. The tools are certainly there to capture knowledge, but everyone's trying to cut costs so much in a desire to optimize for the present.
- ianai 10y ago
  Let's not forget all the people that would love to be the person receiving said information. But again, not happening.
- dpcx 10y ago
  That doesn't disagree with the GPs comment at all. Whether it's for budgetary reasons or technological ones, the effectiveness of knowledge capture is still a huge problem.
- CognitiveLens 10y ago
  Sounds like you actually agree, and have identified an underlying problem. The technical ability to capture knowledge, particularly for craft trades like glassblowing, has existed for as long as humans have been organized into societies - it's usually a question of dedicating resources to support it. The apprenticeship model needs a renaissance.
  - losteric 10y ago
    We need to get away from the dogma that everyone must and will get a college degree. Apprenticeships are as good, if not better, for many fields... especially in the world of software.
    - andrewflnr 10y ago
      Eh, it's going to be hard to replace a proper algorithms or computability class with an apprenticeship. I'd like to see a combined approach, classes in between an apprenticeship-style arrangement.

mcphage 10y ago

Yeah. On one hand, this is a shame. On the other, it's a problem entirely of their own making, caused by their short-sighted budgeting.

djsumdog 10y ago

It's like that parable of the monastery that used a main support pillar made from a very massive 80 year old tree. They planted another tree like it on the grounds of the monastery for when it needed to be replaced. A century later, the central pillar is in bad shape, so they cut down the tree and carve a new pillar. ... and never replace the tree they just cut down.

jdc0589 10y ago

I was gonna say...if it's that critical, SURELY they've made him take on an apprentice.

eonw 10y ago
it just wasnt critical to those making budget decisions.