HIST 11 |
| It is often said that necessity is the mother of invention and that is certainly true - much of the time. However, many of the products we take for granted today, and can't imagine living without, had their beginnings not by design and identified need. They burst upon and changed our lives as the result of an accident, an unplanned experimental result, an unanticipated and unexplainable observation, or some other unexpected event. Penicillin, vulcanized rubber, Velcro, high density polyethylene, and self-locking nuts and bolts are just a few examples. The invention of the first Scotchgard products resulted from an accidental laboratory spill that redirected our efforts from trying to make a fuel resistant aircraft hose to making stain repellent fabrics. |
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Women Chemists in the National Inventors' Hall of Fame: Telling Their Stories
1:30 PM-4:45 PM, Sunday, April 6, 2008 Marriott Convention Center -- Fulton, Oral
Division of the History of Chemistry |