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The Woman Who Invented the Thread that Stops Bullets
Stephanie Louise Kwolek is an American chemist who invented poly-paraphenylene terephthalamide, better known as Kevlar. She was born in the Pittsburgh suburb of New Kensington, Pennsylvania. In 1964, in anticipation of a gasoline shortage, her group began searching for a lightweight yet strong fiber to be used in tires. The polymers she had been working with at the time formed liquid crystal while in solution, something unique to those polymers at the time. However, Kwolek persuaded technician Charles Smullen to test her solution. She was amazed to find that the new fiber would not break when nylon typically would.
* Reviews *
Books in the Genius Inventors and Their Great Ideas series offer colorful, accessible introductions to individual American inventors. Each book features five chapters of text, laid out in wide-spaced lines of fairly large type. Illustrations include contemporary color photos as well as period photos of the inventor from childhood through adulthood. In each book, the back matter has an identical, chapter-length section of advice and encouragement called You Be the Inventor. Ferris Wheel introduces George Ferris, the engineer who designed and built the original ride for the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago. In Laser, Ted Maiman builds on his childhood interest in electricity when he grows up to invent the first laser. Thread That Stops Bullets relates the story of chemist Stephanie Kwolek, who set out to create fibers stronger than steel and became the inventor of Kevlar. While older students will crave more information, books in the series do serve a practical purpose, presenting a simple account of the inventors life and work in an attractive format. Some libraries may have volumes on the same subjects from an earlier version of the series, Genius at Work! Great Inventor Biographies. There are updates on the time line and bibliography pages. Caution: although the authors are the same, the books have been retitled., Booklist December 15, 2013
RL
Grades
3--5 IL
Grades
3-5 GRL
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