James Wright and the Invention of Silly Putty

The plastic putty known as Silly Putty ®Ã‚  has been entertaining youngsters and providing them with innovative playtime since the 1940s. Its had an interesting history since then.   The Origins of Silly Putty ® James Wright, an engineer, discovered Silly Putty ®.  Just as with many awesome inventions, the discovery happened by accident.   Wright was working for the U.S. War Production Board at the time. He was charged with finding a substitute for synthetic rubber that wouldn’t cost the government an arm and a leg to produce. He mixed silicone oil with boric acid and found that the compound acted very much like rubber. It could rebound almost 25 percent higher than a normal rubber ball, and it was impervious to rot. Soft and malleable, it could stretch to many times its original length without tearing. Another of Silly Putty’s ® unique qualities was its ability to copy the image of any printed material it was pressed upon. Wright initially  called his discovery  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Nutty Putty.†Ã‚  The material was sold under the trade name Silly Putty ® in 1949 and it sold faster than any other toy in history, registering over $6 million in sales in the first year.   The Government Wasn’t Impressed Wright’s amazing Silly Putty ® never found a home with the U.S. government as a substitute for synthetic rubber. The government said it wasn’t a superior product. Tell that to millions of kids pressing globs of the stuff onto comic  pages,  lifting images of their favorite action heroes. Marketing consultant  Peter Hodgson didn’t agree with the government, either. Hodgson bought the production rights to Wrights bouncing putty and  is credited with changing the name of Nutty Putty to Silly Putty ®, introducing it to the  public at Easter, selling it inside plastic eggs. Silly Putty’s ® Practical Uses Silly Putty ® wasn’t initially marketed as a toy. In fact, it pretty much bombed at the 1950 International Toy Fair. Hodgson first intended  Silly Putty ® for an adult audience, billing it for its practical purposes.  But despite  its ignoble beginnings, Neiman-Marcus and Doubleday decided to go ahead and sell Silly Putty ® as a toy and it began to take off. When the  New Yorker  mentioned the stuff, sales bloomed – more than a quarter million orders were received within three days. Hodgson then reached his adult audience almost by accident. Parents soon discovered that not only could Silly Putty ® lift perfect images off comic pages, but it was pretty handy for pulling lint off of  fabric as well. It went to space with the Apollo 8 crew in 1968, where it proved effective at keeping objects in place in zero gravity. Binney Smith, Inc., creator of Crayola,  purchased Silly Putty ® after Hodgson’s death. The company claims that more than 300 million Silly Putty ® eggs have sold since 1950. The Composition of Silly Putty Although you probably don’t want to go to the trouble of whipping up a batch at home when you can simply buy some, the basic ingredients of  Silly Putty ®Ã‚  include: Dimethyl Siloxane: 65 percentSilica: 17 percentThixotrol ST: 9 percentPolydimethylsiloxane: 4 percentDecamethylcyclopentasiloxane: 1 percent  Glycerine: 1 percentTitanium Dioxide: 1 percent It’s a safe guess that Binney Smith aren’t divulging all their proprietary secrets, including the introduction of a wide array of  Silly Putty ®Ã‚  colors, some that even glow in the dark.

The Skill of Writing Essay - 677 Words

The Skill of Writing Writing and reading are two essential skills that we need to have in order to succeed in any field of study that we have chosen. Without these two we would not be here, wouldn’t be writing right now and would be considered the lowest class of our society. There are different aspects of writing that each of us may, or may not, excel at. Some of us are creative enough to write short stories or even novels on fiction while others, like me, are better at writing essays. To accomplish this we have all had a person to inspire us, to drive us, to get us over the hump of confidence that we need to succeed. Still to be successful we need to count on ourselves to succeed. I for one am better at writing essays on a†¦show more content†¦I can easily write essays when I have a given prompt, I run into the trouble when I have to think up the prompt. To me writing essays has become part of me; it isn’t longer a strain to perform. You can almost say that it comes naturally. It has become naturally because of a person that deeply affected at my writing skills and that person was a teacher by the name of Mrs. Donnellan. At the beginning of the year we were afraid of writing essays. The first essay that we wrote took us about two days to complete, it wasn’t difficult it was that we didn’t have creativity and technique to do them. From then on we wrote all year long and we became good at them, how good? At the end of the year our exam was to complete three well developed essays in a 90 minute period, it was a breeze. The only thing that became tired was our hands, but not our minds. Every writer has an inspiration it could be an instructor or someone or something with a special interest in life. To me it was an instructor I know that that teacher made the difference in my writing abilities; I could probably be lost without her knowledge. I think that my strength that applies the most to me is re sponsibility. 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There are many mistakes will be made in my essay, such as grammar mistakes, wrong spell of vocabulary and the logic of chaos, which make me cannot write a excellent essay as I expect. So after knowing that I would be taking CC112, I wasRead MoreThe Importance Of Writing Skills And Oral Skills867 Words   |  4 Pagesof Writing Skills and Oral skills Mr. Price emphasized the importance of writing skills. He said that when you use it daily it is always important to sound professional. He also said what person would like to go through a document or email and see errors throughout. The textbook states, â€Å"many job listings mention the need for excellent oral and written communication† (Guffey and Loewy 3). 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Brain storming Read MoreReading and Writing Skills4296 Words   |  18 Pagestaken from wikipedia and some other sources: Importance of Good Writing and Reading Skills Effective Writing and Reading Skills for Effective Communication Feb 21, 2009 Alla Kondrat [pic] Effective Writing Skills - GJo Effective writing and reading skills are as important for effective communication as speaking and listening skills. [pic][pic][pic][pic] They are not just a set of basic skills people are taught at school. Writing and reading are an integral part of each educated individual’s lifeRead MoreImportance Of Persuasive Writing Skills In Writing784 Words   |  4 Pagespersuasive writing skills have remained stagnant and have not grown much since I graduated from high school. The coursework of my chemical engineering classes has focused more on technical writing to convey data and facts to evaluate a hypothesis rather than to persuade a reader to think differently. 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The Pursuit Of Happiness And The Inner Resources Essay Example For Students

The Pursuit Of Happiness And The Inner Resources Essay The pursuit of happiness and what factors influence individual well-being, has long been a point of worldwide interest. This literature will provide insight on the secrets to happiness and what desires must individuals accomplish to live a happy life. This essay will begin by discussing mental attitudes and the inner resources one has to experience a happy state of mind. It will then examine current research on social relationships and the central role it plays on nurturing wellness. It will then consider the importance of navigating through a wide-range of feelings and emotions at work. The final section will indicate that true wealth is not measured by money. This essay will argue that happiness is cultivated from choices rather than a product of one’s situation and how social relationships, attitude, work and money all affect individual happiness. Compelling evidence suggests that meaningful personal connections contribute to longer, healthier and most importantly happier lives. Wiseman, (2012) reported from a United Nations meeting convened to encourage governments to focus more on happiness rather than exclusively concentrating on the growth of the gross domestic profit as done in previous meetings. A notable contribution was the emphasis placed on social interactions, according to Karma Ura (cited in Wiseman, 2012 p. 3): ‘The true meaning of happiness and wellbeing lies in our relationships with our families, friends and communities’. Wiseman’s (2012) article appears to be in consensus with that of O’Rourke, Cooper’s research (2010) that identified academic success and varied behaviors were not significant influences that impacted student’s happiness, rather individuals with developing social skills and broad meaningful re. .nd happiness. In conclusion, it is clear that happiness isn’t governed from external circumstances rather the secret lies in the choices one makes. Emphasis is placed on the importance of social relations and the development of strong quality connections. Cultivating good attitudes is also paramount in increasing happiness and its firmly within the individuals control to choose to be grateful. Additionally, balancing an equilibrium of emotions at work, allows the individual to perform better in the face of a challenge. Lastly, it’s evident there is no direct correlation that money is the key to a person’s happiness. In fact, individuals who continually strive for greater wealth, decreased their ability to enjoy simple pleasures and the experiences money can’t buy, such as a positive altruistic attitude, meaningful social relationships and satisfying work outcomes.