The Chance Connection: Development of the Dioptric Lighthouse Lens - Part 2
The coincidence of Lucas Chance's determination to expand the firm's glassmaking business into optical glass and lighthouse lens apparatus with his fixation on winning the contract to supply the glass for the Crystal Palace was pivotal for both Chance Brothers and lighthouse-lens manufacture in England. The glass for the Palace demonstrated Chance Brothers' position as England's foremost glassmaker, applying techniques of standardized production that marked them as one of the first manufacturers of the Second Industrial Revolution.
The Chance Connection: Development of the Dioptric Lighthouse Lens - Part 1
Readers of The Keeper's Log have had occasional glimpses into the Chance lighthouse heritage, thanks to the painstaking research of Thomas Tag and other members of the Lens Committee. A Chance lens sits atop one of America's best known lighthouses, Heceta Head in Oregon, and recently the Ponce Inlet lighthouse museum in Florida has restored a 4th order Chance lens sourced from Australia, now on display among many other beautiful examples of maritime design engineering.