Chance sometimes good things. Here are 15 inventions that would never have emerged if he had not put his two cents.
paper Post-it
Yellow, pink, orange, square, rectangular or heart: Sticky encounter a phenomenal success worldwide. Nothing could foreshadow such a craze especially not the one through whom all things came. Who? Spencer Silver, a researcher at the U.S. company 3M in the 70s. This log on to develop a very powerful superglue. Bad luck for him, his grip glue absolutely not. One advantage: it leaves no trace on the paper and can join more than once.
His colleague, Arthur Fry will take advantage of this glue. In 1974, he sought a way to make a bookmark sticking that does not damage the pages of his songbook. It uses glue on a piece of paper and realizes the potential of this process. 3M Company then sells these 1981 pieces of paper Post-it.
Anesthetic hilarious
Until the mid-nineteenth century, nitrous oxide discovered by Joseph Priestley in 1776 was used only for recreational purposes.
It is in 1844 that the gas found its true function with the dentist Horace Wells.
At a private exhibition Hartord, he observes that a person under the influence of laughing gas falls, hurts but it does not seem to feel no pain. Eureka! Function anesthetic nitrous oxide is discovered and used by its discoverer to extract teeth without pain.
A stretchable wrapping
Like what dinner at the gray cells can inspire inventors. This was the case for the Swiss chemical engineer Jacques Edwin Brandenberger. Seeing a guest dropping a bottle of wine and water and stain he had the idea of designing a water stain-resistant. We are in 1900.
He coated textile viscose liquid to make it waterproof but it does not work. The fabric becomes rigid and fragile. From this compound, it extruded cellulose. It increases the viscose through a narrow slot in an acid bath. The result is a chemical engineer cellulose film stretch: cellophane. Brandenberger has worked eight years on this project.
The remains of Pompeii and Herculaneum
These two Italian cities experienced a tragic fate in '79 when the terrible eruption of Vesuvius. Villages were literally destroyed, buried under tons of hot ash that killed people.
These historical gems were mummified uncovered by chance. The earliest remains of Pompeii were discovered in 1600 when the river diversion works Samo. The digging of the canal by the architect Fontana allowed to reveal ancient buildings covered very well preserved mosaics. At that time, little interest in archeology and excavations began in the eighteenth century.
Regarding the city waterfront Herculaneum was discovered in 1709 by drilling a well on the property of Resina the Austrian prince Maurice Emmanuel de Lorraine. He fell to the ancient temple city.
Iodine for good health
In the midst of the Napoleonic Wars, gunpowder was produced in quantity to meet the needs of the army.
This famous powder is obtained by leaching the lands rich in saltpeter then by the action of wood ash rich in potassium. Result: saltpetre crystallizes. At the time, a problem arises: wood ashes are difficult to obtain and very expensive.
Bernard Courtois, owner of Salpêtrière, turns to the kelp-seaweed-rich ash and potash. One of his workers have paid too much hydrochloric acid extraction solution of seaweed ash rich. A purple cloud would have formed and crystals of an unknown compound were at the bottom of the container. Iodine is uncovered. Another version would containers that corrosion by iodine has attracted the attention of Courtois.
Since iodine is commonly used in medicine, but also for the development picture.
A little break ice
During the hot days of summer, what better than to drink its refreshing taste with a stick of ice or sorbet. Did you know that the inventor is simply a 11 year old?
We are in 1905, Frank Epperson left out a bowl of water mixed with soda powder and a wooden stick to stir. The outside temperature is excessively cold San Francisco that night. The next day, he discovers that the mixture is glued to the wand. He called this frozen dessert "Epsicle." He filed a patent in 1924.
A plant that wishes you well
The doctor William Withering exercise in hospital in Birmingham since 1779. It follows a patient hydropsia. This disease causes the effusion of fluid in the tissue. This can be compared to edema.
One day, a nurse warns him that his patient is recovering and his condition is improving day by day. The man absorbs a decoction of leaves of plants-digital for processing.
To understand this better, Withering attempts to isolate the active ingredient present in this herbal blend. He discovered that a molecule called digitalis, the names of flowers. It increases, among others, the renal flow and reduces edema.
It also acts on the heart by increasing its contraction and regulating the heartbeat
A sweetener that unleashes passions
The discovery of this artificial sweetener is truly random. In 1965, a chemist working for the company J.Schlatter serale to develop an ulcer drug composed of amino acids. To summarize, aspartame is required. He plays the role of intermediary. Licking his finger to turn a page of a book, the chemist discovers that aspartame now has a sweet taste.
Composed of L-phenylalanine and L-aspartic acid, aspartame should not taste sweet, yet. Configuration shall be responsible, she's active in many papillae of the tongue responsible for the "sweet" thus giving a connotation sugar more supported than sucrose.
Marketing is still subject to controversy. Its safety is questioned. The Scientific Committee on Food of the European Commission found no tangible evidence to confirm the side effects of this molecule.
Fireworks The symbol of the party
Large parties are often accompanied by magnificent fireworks: palm, rose, angel hair ... Young and old marvel at the fireworks. Who developed this process? Do not expect a famous chemist because it is not. Legend has it that the sound and light show is the result of improper handling of a Chinese cook.
The imprudent would try to mix saltpeter, charcoal and sulfur; ingredients in the kitchen at that time (2000 years ago).
Confined in a bamboo tube, the combustion of compounds have started an explosion and colorful. So, myth or reality?
modern stethoscope
Who would have thought that the discovery of this important tool in diagnosing cardiopulmonary diseases would be born of a nuisance?
In 1816, Dr. Laennec visits a patient. Instead of sticking his ear to his chest and put uncomfortable, the doctor asks a notebook that runs in a tube and applies on his chest. He was surprised to hear the heart beat properly.
He then realized that by developing this tool, you can hear the sounds of breathing and lung problems detected in addition to those of the heart. The stethoscope was born.
The hooks of the closure
The word Velcro ® is a registered trademark of Velcro International BV. This name has yet been given by the author, Georges de Mestral, because it corresponded to the contraction Velvet Hook.
The band self-loop fastener found everywhere arose from a simple walk in the countryside. De Mestral finds that his corduroy pants and his dog's fur is full of flowers burdock.
By looking closely, there distinguishes small hooks can cling to any surface. It then develops the Velcro ® using two different materials and patents his idea in 1951.
A non-stick coating
Teflon ® is part of our daily lives: it is present in plumbing but especially in the kitchen. Finished scrubbing the stove for hours with this non-stick coating!
The author of this amazing discovery is a young chemist, Roy Plunkett, employed by the company DuPont de Nemours & Company in Deepwater (New Jersey).
In an experiment conducted on refrigerants, he pulls out a tank filled with 45 kg tétrafluorométhylène frozen. Opening the tube, no gas comes out, what the challenges. He shakes his pipe and harvesting white flakes. By cutting the hose, he discovers a white waxy substance. The tétrafluorométhylène is actually polymerized polyéthrafluorométhylène or Teflon.
Le pourriture des grappes destinées au Sauternes est appelée pourriture noble
Again the stories diverge grandmother. Two versions explain the creation of this sweet wine: Sauternes.
In 1847, the Marquis de Lur-Saluces is in Russia for hunting wolves. It requires its employees await his return to begin the harvest. The sun does its work and clusters show a brown rot. Back to his castle, the Marquis nevertheless decides to proceed with the harvest. He gets to his surprise, a wine with powerful aromas incredible.
The other version relates that in 1836 the Focke Bordeaux wine merchant, of German origin, wished to wait until the autumn rains to carry heavy harvest. The return of the sun dries the grapes, noble rot appears and the dealer starts the harvest. Sauternes is born.
A spread that delights the children of the world
This spread is a delight for children and foodies. This recipe was born after the Second World War in 1946. The pastry Piedmontese Pietro Ferrero, cooking a cake covered with chocolate cream.
Times are tough and the cocoa beans are very rare. He therefore decided to replace half of the chocolate with hazelnuts, which are plentiful in the Piedmont region. He gets a dessert topped with a creamy he named "Giandujot."
The story does not stop there. Three years later, the summer heat wave in Italy. The "Giandujot" melts completely giving this creamy paste that we know. The Supercrema is the first name of Nutella
The father of the natural radioactivity
The weather has played the physicist Henri Becquerel but for good reasons.
Wilhelm Röntgen discovered X-rays, Becquerel decided to work on the relationship between these rays and fluorescence. He began his experience with crystals of fluorescent uranium salts on photographic plates wrapped in black paper. Paris after sun exposure, the plates can be found printed. Logical Becquerel but what was not his surprise when he discovered one of the plates locked in a closet in the dark, the negative of a copper cross placed between the uranium and the same plate.
Henri Becquerel discovered radioactivity, ie a material can spontaneously emit radiation.
