Earl L. Warrick
Born
Earl Leathen Warrick

(1911-09-23)September 23, 1911
Butler, Pennsylvania
DiedNovember 15, 2002(2002-11-15) (aged 91)
Loma Linda, California
NationalityAmerican
Alma materCarnegie Institute of Technology
Known forclaimed credit for creation of Silly Putty
AwardsCharles Goodyear Medal (1976)
Scientific career
FieldsChemistry

Earl Leathen Warrick (September 23, 1911 – November 15, 2002) was an American industrial chemist at Dow Corning who is noted for his claim to being the inventor of Silly Putty.[1][2]

Warrick was the 1976 recipient of the Charles Goodyear Medal.[3] [4]

Early Life and Education

Warrick was born in Butler, Pennsylvania. He earned his bachelor's, master's and doctoral degree in 1943 from the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh.

Career

Warrick joined Dow Corning in 1943. In the early days of World War II, while investigating methods for producing synthetic rubber, Warrick combined silicone oil with boric oxide. This resulted in a pliable, elastic, nontoxic substance that was not suitable as a rubber substitute. Its potential as a toy was recognized by a toy store owner and was successfully marketing as Silly Putty. Warrick played a central role in the invention and development of silicone rubber[5][6]. He later managed an operation that produced silicon for microchips. He retired from Corning in 1976, having produced 44 patents[7]. In retirement, he twice served as acting dean of the School of Science, Engineering and Technology at Saginaw Valley State University in Midland, Michigan.

  • Center for Oral History. "Earl L. Warrick". Science History Institute.
  • Bohning, James J. (16 January 1986). Earl L. Warrick, Transcript of an Interview Conducted by James J. Bohning in Midland, Michigan on 16 January 1986 (PDF). Philadelphia, PA: Beckman Center for the History of Chemistry.

References

  1. ↑ Glater, Jonathan D. (22 November 2002). "Earl L. Warrick, 91, a Dow Corning Creator of Silly Putty". The New York Times.
  2. ↑ Roberts, Jacob (2015). "A Successful Failure". Distillations Magazine. Chemical Heritage Foundation. 1 (2): 8–9. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  3. ↑ Center for Oral History. "Earl L. Warrick". Science History Institute.
  4. ↑ Bohning, James J. (16 January 1986). Earl L. Warrick, Transcript of an Interview Conducted by James J. Bohning in Midland, Michigan on 16 January 1986 (PDF). Philadelphia, PA: Beckman Center for the History of Chemistry.
  5. ↑ Hunter, M. J.; Hyde, J. F.; Warrick, E. L.; Fletcher, H. J. (1946). "Organo-silicon polymers. The cyclic dimethyl siloxanes". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 68 (4): 667–672. doi:10.1021/ja01208a042.
  6. ↑ Warrick, E. L.; Pierce, O. R.; Polmanteer, K. E.; Saam, J. C. (1979). "Silicone elastomer developments 1967–1977". Rubber chemistry and Technology. 52 (3): 437–525. doi:10.5254/1.3535229.
  7. ↑ Warrick, Earl L. (1990). Forty Years of Firsts The Recollections of a Dow Corning Pioneer. New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 9780070683303. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
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