The field of glass science and technology has a remarkable history spanning around two centuries of research. In this article, the number of research papers and patents related to glassy and amorphous materials in the published literature are analysed. The publication rate has increased roughly exponentially since 1945. Within the most recent decade, China has become the clear dominant player in the global glass research community, while the publication rate has declined in many of the historically most prolific countries. Oxide glasses, metallic glasses, amorphous carbon and amorphous silicon have drawn the most research attention overall and are still given the greatest focus today. Publication data are also analysed in terms of the properties under study, author keywords, affiliation and primary characterisation techniques. It was found that the level of published fundamental glass research from industrial laboratories has dropped significantly, despite opportunities for new breakthroughs to solve some of the most challenging problems facing the world today. But surprisingly, the number of patents issued worldwide has surpassed the number of published scientific articles, indicating a very high level of activity in technological research.
