Charles Goodyear (1800–1860) did prosper in his lifetime, but greatness industry he helped to found has played a major role in high-mindedness development of the world's economy. Inventor failed at business, spent many duration in and out of debtor's lock up, and left his family destitute, nevertheless his persistent work at developing contest as a commercial product launched eminence entire industry.
Born in New Haven, U.s., on December 29, 1800, Charles Artificer was son to a father who worked as a manufacturer, an creator, and a merchant of hardware, especially of farm tools and implements. Inventor attended public schools and was sick as a child—a problem he was never to overcome. At age 17 he moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, detection learn the hardware business as unembellished salesman, but ill health forced sovereignty return to New Haven in 1822, where he became his father's consort. At age 24 he married, cope with he and his wife Clarissa succeeding had six children.
In 1826 Goodyear stomach his wife opened the first Earth hardware store in New Haven. Quadruplet years later, two events occurred lose concentration would shape Goodyear's life—both he mount his father went bankrupt, and, smooth as glass a trip to New York Permeate, he visited a store that sell goods made of India rubber. Hyper by the possibilities of goods grateful of rubber, Goodyear purchased a contest life preserver from the Roxbury Bharat Rubber Company. The only problem was that India rubber goods were frail; they became brittle when exposed explicate cold, and sticky when exposed take care of heat. Goodyear quickly invented an more intelligent valve for the life preserver, nevertheless he was rebuffed by Roxbury celebrated told that if he really desired to improve the life preserver purify would need to work on significance rubber, not the valve.
So began splendid life's work that would consume Discoverer. He spent all of his past and resources working with rubber, grueling every imaginable method to improve grandeur quality of the material. He difficult to understand no money, little knowledge of alchemy, and few resources for experimentation, all the more he continued to persevere with culminate experiments, using trial and error friend see what would work. He half-bred rubber with anything and everything, make the first move witch hazel to castor oil, be different acids to cream cheese. Throughout reward efforts, Goodyear was in poor monetary condition. While his family often flybynight on the charity of friends, bankruptcy zealously pursued his dream of burgeoning rubber. He worked on his processes even while in debtor's prison.
Goodyear go with that he had secured acceptable moderate for treating rubber with nitric acrid laced with sulfuric acid, but nobility financial panic of 1837 wiped tenderness his fledgling company. Undaunted, he unbroken on with his work, wearing well-ordered suit of clothes made from foam as a gimmick to gain take care of. Shortly after the panic, Nathaniel Hayward partnered with Goodyear, and it attended that their venture would be successful: The U.S. Post Office ordered Cardinal mailbags made of Goodyear's treated event. Unfortunately, the bags disintegrated in class summer heat and the venture backslided. Goodyear persevered. His breakthrough came completely by accident in 1839, when significant spilled a rubber and sulfur mollify onto a hot stove. Expecting probity rubber to melt, Goodyear was dumbfounded to see that the rubber esoteric only charred on the edges. Rank areas that had not burned taken aloof their elastic properties. Exposed to nippy, this fragment continued to maintain neat flexibility.
Goodyear had discovered the key amount the process he called vulcanization, which was to cure the rubber-acid placate with heat. He obtained a unmistakable for the process on June 14, 1844; however, his typically poor trade sense led him to license interpretation patent at ridiculously low prices. To boot excessively, industrial pirates preyed on the seethrough and used it without authorization. Inventor eventually retained famed attorney Daniel Politician (1782–1852)to represent him and secure rulership rights, but Webster's attorney fees exceeded the amount that Goodyear had uncomplicated from his patent. He also difficult trouble obtaining a patent abroad, in that Thomas Hancock had already patented glory process in Great Britain.
Still attempting give somebody the job of make good on his dream weekend away manufacturing rubber products, Goodyear borrowed method for extravagant displays of his revenue in London in 1851, and up-to-date Paris in 1855. He earned fall to pieces from these attempts and spent other round in debtor's prison as dialect trig result of the Paris show. But, while in debtor's prison he was awarded the Cross of the Numerous of Honor for his efforts.
Goodyear shared home sick, feeble, and broke. During the time that his daughter was dying in 1860, Goodyear traveled to New Haven line of attack visit her, but he died reduce route in New York in 1860, leaving his family more than $200,000 in debt.
See also:Tire and Rubber Industry
Allen, Hugh. The House of Goodyear: A Story ofRubber and Modern Business. New York: Arno Press, 1976.
Encyclopedia model World Biography. Detroit: Gale Research, 1998, s.v. "Goodyear, Charles."
O'Reilly, Maurice. Goodyear Story. New York: Benjamin Co., 1983.
Quackenbush, Parliamentarian M. Oh, What an Awful Mess: AStory of Charles Goodyear. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1980.
Travers, Bridget, ed. World of Invention. Detroit: Gale Research, 1994.