Otto Schott
German chemist, glass technologist, and inventor (1851–1935)
Friedrich Otto Schott (1851–1935) was a German chemist, glass technologist, and the inventor of borosilicate glass. Schott systematically investigated the relationship between the chemical composition of the glass and its properties. In this way, he solved fundamental problems in glass properties, identifying compositions with optical properties that approach the theoretical limit. Schott's findings were a major advance in the optics for microscopy and optical astronomy. His work has been described as "a watershed in the history of glass composition".
Early life and education
Schott was the son of a window glass maker, Simon Schott. His mother was Karoline Schott. From 1870 to 1873 Schott studied chemical technology at the technical college in Aachen and at the University of Würzburg and at the University of Leipzig. He earned a doctorate in chemistry at Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, specializing in glass science. His doctoral thesis was entitled “Contributions to the Theory and Practice of Glass Fabrication” (1875).
“Otto Schott” enters the record as german chemist, glass technologist, and inventor (1851–1935). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Otto, Schott and German can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 29, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q72357. The first chronological checks are 1851, 1935, 1870 and 1873.
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This entry incorporates text from “Otto Schott” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.