Page 67 - Inventions - A Visual Encyclopedia (DK - Smithsonian)

Glass-based insulator

Kevlar vests such
■ ■ What? Fiberglass as this have been
■ ■ Who? Games Slayter used by the US
■ ■ Where and when? US, 1932 military since
the 1980s
At the Owens-Illinois glass company, Games Slayter
discovered a way of mass-producing glass wool,
known today as fibreglass. The material traps air,
making it ideal for insulation. In 1936, glass wool
was combined with a plastic resin to create a
strong, lightweight material, useful in
the construction industry. Kevlar bulletproof
vests are very
strong and light.
Fiberglass-
coated MAKING THE MODERN WORLD
canoe

Tough, protective plastic
Elastic sportswear

■ ■ What? Kevlar
■ ■ What? Spandex ■ ■ Who? Stephanie Kwolek and
■ ■ Who? Joseph Shivers Paul Morgan
■ ■ Where and when? US, 1958 Elastic attire made ■ ■ Where and when? US, 1965
from spandex is
While working at the DuPont ideal for flexible Kevlar is a plastic that is five times
company, the American chemist gymnasts. stronger than steel. It was developed
Joseph Shivers was looking for a by chemists working for DuPont
light, synthetic material to use in in the US. It is related to another
women’s clothing. In the 1950s, man-made material called nylon,
he found it—an elastic-like fiber but with an extra chemical to add
that was named spandex, an strength and stiffness. It was first used
anagram of “expands.” It was in racing tires, and is also used in
patented in 1958 and golf clubs and flame-proof clothing.
marketed as Lycra.
Flexible electronics
FAST FACTS
■ ■ What? Flexible electronic screens
■ ■ Who? Plastic Logic ■ ■ Man-made materials are typically
■ ■ Where and when? Germany, 2004 much more durable than their natural
counterparts. Once an advantage, this
German scientists have discovered a
way to make light, thin, and flexible is now seen as an environmental
screens that can carry digital problem, as they do not degrade.
information. At present, this ■ ■ Chinese material scientists have
technology is used in signage, created the world’s lightest material
wristwatches, and other wearable called graphene aerogel, which is
devices, but we might soon have almost entirely made out of air.
flexible computer screens (left).

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