Posted on 06/21/2014 6:04:54 AM PDT by Innovative
Kwolek, who died Wednesday at 90, was a DuPont Co. chemist who in 1965 invented Kevlar, the lightweight, stronger-than-steel fiber used in bulletproof vests and other body armor around the world.
A pioneer as a woman in a heavily male field, Kwolek made the breakthrough while working on specialty fibers at a DuPont laboratory in Wilmington. At the time, DuPont was looking for strong, lightweight fibers that could replace steel in automobile tires and improve fuel economy.
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Not enough. I’d truly prefer if they just talked more about these women as mainstream pioneers, rather than hyping their supposed victimhood in the male-dominated workplaces they excelled in.
Back in that time, there was a woman’s college (Margaret Morrison Carnegie College) and that is the school that Kwolek graduated from. Without today’s PC fanfare (look it’s shiny! Google is donating 50 gazillion and Chelsea Clinton is the spokes celeb to get girls to learn to code! yippee).
My point is there HAVE ALWAYS been opportunities for women in hard sciences if they had the skill set and desire to make the CHOICE to explore the opportunities.
Now, I live in the Pittsburgh area, yet I first read about Stephanie Kwolek helping one of my kids do a science report. What stunned me is what a PROFOUND contribution her discovery made to the world, YET the “local” female scientist who is “celebrated” (and even has a damn bridge named after her) is Rachel Carson. Wrap your mind around that!
May she RIP knowing she made the world a better, safer place, and may her memory be honored by her story being taught to future generations of budding scientists.
Well said! No one is preventing anyone from pursuing a job or a degree in any field of study. Libs act like there’s some conspiracy to keep women out of hard sciences.
Thanks for the ping. May she rest in peace.
“Margarine was outlawed for decades.”
Yeah, I remember as a kid right after WWII we had margarine that came white in a bag with a capsule of yellow coloring that you had to break and kneed into the white mass. This was how the margarine producers initially got around the butter lobby and their anti-competitative laws.
Here in CA they have been using Kevlar reinforcement in asphalt overlay jobs for years.
Due to union electricians, San Francisco still will not allow Romex wiring. It has to be conduit or BX, and for years paint rollers were illegal in SF thanks to the union painters.
NYC still bans Romex, but half the drivers are unlicensed illegal aliens.
Thank God for this hero!
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