HELP!!! I can't find info on this inventor! (school project)

[ElizK]

I'm completely at a loss! My DD11 has a science project due tomorrow. She's almost finished, but can't find any biographical info on the inventor, and I don't know where else to look. I've been all over the internet. I can't think of a thing else to do. ANY suggestions???

The inventor is James Wright, inventor of SIlly Putty. Ideas?? TIA.

 

[Disney1fan2002]

there's this:
http://inventors.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/sillyputty.html

OOPS, sorry, I see you are looking for a biography. That's a tough one!

 

[dejr_8]

http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/00000039
http://dopamine.chem.umn.edu/chempedia/index.php/Silly_Putty

I searched (google) for James Wright and Polymer (I knew has a polymer chemist). I found several sites. Hope these lead somewhere that helps

 

[lesroi]

Hmmmm, not much biographical info about him out there! Most of these concentrate solely on his most awesome invention!

http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blsillyputty.htm
http://web.mit.edu/Invent/iow/sillyputty.html
http://www.fiftiesweb.com/pop/silly-putty.htm


Tracy

 

[ElizK]

Thank you for posting! I've actually been to most of those sites. None have any additional info other than how the invention of silly putty came about.

Any other ideas??? DD11 needs to know the year of James Wright's birth and death, and where he was born. ACK!!! I'm pulling my hair out!

 

[WebmasterShaun]

I remember that he just passed away a few years ago because I remember Jay Leno talking about it. He put Wright's obituary on Silly Putty, you know like when you rub it on a newspaper and the words show up on the putty. I thought it was cute and a nice tribute.

 

[Sandy51]

Try here:


http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blsillyputty.htm



I just went to ask.com


Sandy

 

[ElizK]

Thanks, but that doesn't have biographical info. Darn it! I don't know what else to do other than write the teacher a note saying we looked EVERYWHERE!! ARGH!

 

[clh2]

Thanks, but that doesn't have biographical info. Darn it! I don't know what else to do other than write the teacher a note saying we looked EVERYWHERE!! ARGH!

Just a thought here - THIS IS NOT YOUR HOMEWORK - the emphasis should be on your DD looked everywhere. I would also include something in the note, that if the teacher could suggest additional resources that you could have tried.

(I don't mean to sound unsympathetic, my DD needed to find out about Benjamin Harrison~including the pets the president had. There is just better stuff available about some subjects than others.)

 

[ElizK]

Just a thought here - THIS IS NOT YOUR HOMEWORK - the emphasis should be on your DD looked everywhere. I would also include something in the note, that if the teacher could suggest additional resources that you could have tried.

(I don't mean to sound unsympathetic, my DD needed to find out about Benjamin Harrison~including the pets the president had. There is just better stuff available about some subjects than others.)

I'm with you, really! I'm actually in the middle of composing a note to this teacher. That's a good idea to ask for additional resources.

 

[liamsaunt]

Too bad I did not see this thread earlier--the Travel Channel was just running a show on the Silly Putty factory! Maybe you could check their website and see if there's any information on him there to support the show?

 

[ElizK]

Thanks. That was the first place we went!

 

[MAGICinMYHEART]

You could try doing a search on the Obituaries.

 

[agnes!]

I tried looking up obituaries, but so far no luck. Maybe there's some kind of listing in a Who's Who(of Inventors or Engineers, etc).

good luck,
agnes!

 

[grlpwrd]

Maybe go to the Silly Putty website at www.sillyputty.com and contact them for his bio. There is a contact/email us link at the bottom. Binney and Smith owns it now so you also might want to check with the Crayola website for contact info.

Ha ha...I had some time so I looked on that page and that very question was already asked and there was a referral link to the History channel special on Silly Putty. You can watch the video. The special didn't really delve into too much detail, though. You can still email a question by clicking onto the tab on the crayola.com support site, but there may be a delay in answering your question.

GL!

 

[tinkerella]

Hope this helps!

James Wright was a Scottish engineer in New Haven, Connecticut. He worked for General Electric company who was asked to create a synthetic rubber compound for the military. Wright was one of the engineers working on the project. James Wright mixed boric acid and silicone oil in a test tube. The compound became "polymerized." Wright removed the gooey substance from his test tube, and in his exuberance tossed some of the substance on the floor. It suddenly bounced back up and Bouncing Putty was born, on accident.

James Wright began to bring his "Nutty Putty" to parties he attended. He showed his putty to some of the guest who had a blast stretching it and bouncing it. Peter Hodgson heard of the bouncing putty and bought a huge sum of it. Worth around 147 million dollars. He put the putty into colored plastic eggs and sold them for $1 each. It became an overnight sensation. Silly Putty became very very popular.

 

[agnes!]

I think the OP was looking for biographical information on James Wright (birth, death, etc.)

OP - Let us know what your DD found and where...I looked a bit last night & gave up .

agnes!

 

[ElizK]

I think the OP was looking for biographical information on James Wright (birth, death, etc.)

OP - Let us know what your DD found and where...I looked a bit last night & gave up .

agnes!

I never found anything! I finally gave up and wrote a note to the teacher. My DD11 tried for about 45 mins, then I tried for another 1 1/2 - 2hrs, and then my DH tried for about 30mins. Thats a ridiculous amount of time to spend!

I can't thank ya'll enough for trying to help us! I really really really appreciate it! Dis'sers are the BEST!