  The remarkable strength of glasses is examined using the random first order
transition theory of the glass transition. The theory predicts that strength
depends on elastic modulus but also on the configurational energy frozen in
when the glass is prepared. The stress catalysis of cooperative rearrangements
of the type responsible for the supercooled liquid's high viscosity account
quantitatively for the measured strength of a range of metallic glasses, silica
and a polymer glass.
