Unfortunately, he didn’t understand what happened exactly. What was the temperature of the stove? How long did the process take? How much sulfur was the right amount? For many days, he tried to recreate the process without success. These unsuccessful experiments stretched on for weeks and then months. When he ran out of fuel to burn at home, he found local blacksmiths willing to lend their furnaces to him at the end of their workdays. When fur- naces weren’t available, he turned his wife’s kitchen into a lab. He baked rubber in bread pans, dangled it over steaming teapots, and toasted it in the oven. He used his willingness to take chances (#9) and enterprise (#11) to the fullest. Finally, he perfected the process after learning from all his mis- takes and applying his honesty (#5). Then, on June 15, 1844, five years after his accidental discovery, Goodyear was awarded the US patent for his rubber-making process, later known as vulcanization — named after the Roman god of fire.
Made with FlippingBook Annual report maker