Otto Schott

Who was Otto Schott?

Friedrich Otto Schott was a German chemist, glass technologist, and the inventor of borosilicate glass. He was the son of a window glass maker, Simon Schott. From 1870 to 1873 Schott studied chemical technology at the technical college in Aachen and at the universities of Würzburg and Leipzig. He attained a doctorate in glass chemistry at Friedrich Schiller University of Jena for his thesis “Contributions to the Theory and Practice of Glass Fabrication”.

In 1879, Schott developed a new lithium-based glass that possessed novel optical properties. Schott shared this discovery with Dr Ernst Abbe, which was the catalyst for a long professional relationship between the two.

In 1884, in association with Dr Ernst Abbe and Carl Zeiss, Otto founded Glastechnische Laboratorium Schott & Genossen in Jena. It was here, during the period 1887 through to 1893, that Schott developed borosilicate glass. Borosilicate glass is distinguished for its high tolerance to heat and a substantial resistance to thermal shock and resistance to degradation when exposed to chemicals.

In 1926 Otto Schott retired from active work at Schott & Associates.