Romans, Nano Technology, Chalices

Here's one of those articles that assumes we are special for some reason. Apparently this 1600 year old chalice has some very refined qualities. It contains gold and silver refined to the point that it is 1/1000th the size of a grain of table salt. This refined gold dust is injected into glass, allowing the glass to take on different colors depending on the liquid put in it.

This is nano-technology and surprises the author that the Romans could do it. The surprise of course pre-supposes that the Romans were not skilled artisans able to create a civilization that has left its imprint on the entire planet's dominate species. Nor were they able to build structures so sound that they have survived 2000 years of weather, earthquakes, gothic hordes and time and in some cases are still used today. It pre-supposes that the Romans were not able to build a network of roads so sophisticated that men could march from Byzantium to Calais. Assuming of course that the Romans were but ignorant primitive ancients that didn't understand the subtle nature of the world around them.

Truth is the glass makers in Rome spent their lives making glass, refining techniques, experimenting, attempting to out do one the other. The society itself was extremely wealthy, which created a plethora of the greatest commodity a society can have . . . and this in abundance . . . time.

In time all things are possible. It isn't amazing that the Romans embraced the use of and managed to master the manipulation of gold and silver. They are us after all. What we should really be curious about is how they did it.

Smithsonian. 

post script: Every class that teaches every student should begin with these words: "You are not special."