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Alex_Altair comments on How would you take over Rome? - Less Wrong Discussion

25 Post author: Yvain 14 March 2012 04:24PM

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Comment author: Alex_Altair 14 March 2012 09:46:17PM 3 points [-]

Is this story considered likely true? Did he invent plastic?

Comment author: Tyrrell_McAllister 14 March 2012 11:10:56PM 5 points [-]

Apparently, Pliny himself was skeptical.

Pliny (NH 36, 66) makes it pretty clear that he does not believe in vitrum flexile. He starts his short account by stating “They say” or “There is a story.” The only thing he says about the glass is that it was flexible. He then says that the glassmaker’s entire workshop was destroyed so that the value of copper, silver, and gold wouldn’t suffer [because people acquired flexible glass instead]. Pliny comments that the story is more frequently told than it is reliable.

...

Not surprisingly, no example of Roman vitrum flexile is known to exist.

Comment author: James_Miller 14 March 2012 09:48:30PM 0 points [-]

I'm not sure.

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