Memory Glass

Frank and his assistant entered the lab to check on his latest try; he wanted to create a much thinner bulletproof glass and his hopes for the new coating were high.

“It’s finished, good, thanks for setting it up, Sylvia.”

”Not a problem. I came in early and had the time. You going to try it?”

“Yeah, hand me the slingshot. If this works we’ll give it a try on the range later.”

“That thing is pretty powerful so be ready for a lot of glass flying around again.”

“Yeah. Long sleeve lab coats and goggles for sure. Last time a piece hit my goggles and scratched them.”

“Ready? ... here goes ... holy, crap! It works! My god, that pellet almost hit me bouncing back and it was single strength glass with our coating. I think we’ve got it made, Sylvia. We’re on our way to a lot of money with this. Finally, after five years of us busting our butts.”

“Let’s try from the other side, it should work from either direction.”

When they turned it there was an image playing like a movie on the reverse side showing the two of them entering the room, setting up to test, and finally the shot. Both stood with mouths hanging open as the entire sequence played out, finally settling on the image from behind it missing them.

“My god, Syl, what have we done? It slows the transfer from one side of the glass to the other; looks like twenty minutes or so.”

“I don’t know. I wonder if we change the formula slightly will it affect the time. This could change the world, Frank.”

“I wonder if we coat both sides is it multidirectional? What an incredible thought.”

“It wouldn’t make for good windshield glass like we thought though. Lots of accidents ...”


Note: The idea came from a story I read fifty or more years ago. I can not remember the title (I’ve looked for it), but the idea has intrigued me since. I don’t remember the book telling about the discovery, just that it had been.