Scientific experiments have frequently been a component of lampworker demonstrations, from the earliest-known itinerant glassworkers through the flameworkers who demonstrate at museums and attractions today. Within decades of the first written mention of the Cartesian diver, 17th-century itinerant glassworkers had incorporated the experiment into their shows.
Nineteenth-century artisans responded to the growing public interest in scientific knowledge by adding experiments to their advertisements. Some glassworkers took this a step further, calling themselves “professor” (without the academic credentials to justify the title) and including lectures in their shows. This gave them an air of knowledge and authority.
![This early itinerant glassworker claimed the figures in his Cartesian diver bottle responded to his commands, rather than to the pressure he is applying to the top of the container. Dieser Hollaendische porcellain-glass-blaser, 1670? Collection of the Rakow Research Library, The Corning Museum of Glass, CMGL 112252. Image of itinerant glassworker next to tube of water with figures inside](https://i0.wp.com/www.gatheringacrowd.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/01_cartesian.jpg?w=192&h=296&ssl=1)
A few of the many experiments itinerant glassworkers included in their demonstrations were: Cartesian divers, pulse glass circulators, philosopher’s hammers, cryophorus deception glasses, hydropneumatic fountains, and hydrostatic balloons – a veritable mad scientist’s lab.