Here's An Interesting Side Note

[JimGinPA]

It's just sad that it's necessary. (Her birthday was Wed. & it just popped up on my FB feed)


https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=19905&fbclid=IwAR0qi3z-WWp3ASFyfLEBkkMQNXwL4HKE3MRWT9AHnlIGmo9Vw4ybxUJmhLw

Stephanie Kwolek: The Groundbreaking Chemist Whose Invention Stops Bullets

Stephanie Kwolek's invention of Kevlar has saved countless lives over the past 40 years. Kevlar is a fiber five times stronger than steel that is now used in numerous products ranging from boots for firefighters to spacecraft — and most famously, in bulletproof vests. It's estimated that since Kevlar's introduction to body armor in the 1970s, the lives of over 3,000 police officers have been saved, as well as those of innumerable soldiers and others in conflict zones. On the day that the pioneering chemist passed away in June 2014 at the age of 90, DuPont announced that the one-millionth protective vest made using Kwolek's lifesaving invention was sold.

~snip

Kwolek discovered Kevlar while working as part of a team trying to find alternatives to replace the steel used in radial tires in order to make cars lighter in anticipation of a future gas shortage. In 1964, she was trying to convert a solid polymer into a liquid form and her creation turned out thin and opaque rather than the syrupy mixture she expected. Normally, this type of result would be considered a failure and the solution would be thrown out. However, she persisted with her investigation and discovered that, after the liquid was removed, the fiber was unusually stiff. Kwolek and her fellow researchers were shocked by the results; she said in a later interview: "I never in a thousand years expected that little liquid crystal to develop into what it did." Further research revealed the vast potential of Kwolek's discovery and DuPont eventually invested $500 million to develop it for commercial application.

~more at link