The history of glass and its uses covers a quite large span of time, with its production and early evolution predating recorded history. At the same time, glass is unlike any other material in antiquity and its production required some of the most advanced methods of any of the early chemical technologies. In terms of material properties, its closest modern analogues are the organic plastics utilized extensively throughout modern society [1–3]. In its molten state, glass could be formed into almost any shape and retains that shape upon cooling. As a non-porous material, glass is capable of containing not only liquids, but also gaseous species as well. At the same time, glass is rather chemically inert and can provide either full optical transparency or a wide array of colored materials in either opaque, translucent, or transparent forms. This combination of attributes thus provides a broadly versatile material for a vast range of applications [3].