There are many texts dealing with photoelastic analysis and its applications, but they are not aimed specifically at the assessment of residual stresses in glasses. This publication offers a practical guide providing information on the various optical arrangements and interpretation of results from typical plant apparatus, it is of general interest to those making stress measurements within the glass industry.

This book presents a sytematic approach to contemporary phototelasticity with particular emphasis on stress analysis in glass. A review of different kinds of residual stresses in glass is presented. Besides traditional photoelastic techniques, differential refractrometry for stress determination on the surface of flat glass and integrated photoelasticity for stress determination in glass articles ofcomplicated shape are considered in detail. Original photoelastic apparatus and corresponding measurement techniques as well as stress calculation algorithms are described. Many practical examples illustrate the possibilities of modern photoelasticity for stress measurement in flat glass, containers, tumblers, tubes, optical fibres and fibre performs etc. The book can be considered as a textbook for a specialist in glass industry who wants to check the quality of products or tries to optimize theproduction process parameters from the point of view of the residual stresses. Furthermore, the book gives a number of new nondestructive methodswhich have not been described in earlier books on photoelasticity.

For more than 400 years, optical glass has provided mankind with a window into both the hidden microcosm and vast outer cosmos of the known universe, transforming philosophy, science, and engineering through its visage and, thus, shaping modern civilization. Its high transmittance, homogeneity, and precisely defined light refraction properties are the preconditions for highly resolved true-color imaging, making it an intrinsic component of technology in general. From consumer products, such as cameras and binoculars, to microscopes and telescopes-the most essential tools of research in many fields-the role of optical glass is integral to the very foundations of modern science and industry.

Glass is the oldest man-made material. Its invention about five thousand years ago should be considered as one of the crucial events in the history of mankind. Glass has given man the possibility to have daylight in his protected living environment and to compensate the defects of his sight. Glass containers and tableware have played and still play an important role in man's everyday life. Glass elements in microscopes and telescopes have given us the possibility to learn the secrets of micro- and macrocosm. Glass participates in the most sophisticated technologies: glass fibers have caused a revolution in telecommunication, glass is used as a material for many modern electronic devices. Although nowadays plastics often make a strong competition to glass, for many applications glass is still the best material due to its specific properties - its hardness, good transparency, resistance to chemicals, the easiness to shape glass articles, feasibility to change the composition of the glass in order to meet new specific demands, etc. Two peculiarities of glass should be pointed out. The first is the fragility of glass - it breaks easily due to tensile stresses. The second is the fact that in every glass item there exist residual stresses due to the complicated technological process during which glass from the state of a viscous liquid at high temperature turns into solid state, while cooled down.