Noble Obsession

by Charles Slack

"The world had never seen such a substance. Bouncy, stretchable, and moldable - rubber seemed like the miracle stuff of the early nineteenth century. But a major problem soon became clear - it melted in summer and cracked in winter. It would take one obsessed genius - Charles Goodyear - willing to endure years of poverty, hunger, and imprisonment, to reinvent rubber into the indispensable substance it is today.". "Noble Obsession is the tale of how a single-minded genius risked his own life and his family's in a quest to unlock the secrets of rubber, and how Thomas Hancock, a brilliant English inventor, ruthlessly sought to claim Goodyear's discovery for himself. The story abounds with colorful historical figures of the nineteenth century including Rufus Choate and Daniel Webster, who came to Goodyear's defense in the courtroom.". "Goodyear suffered like few inventors before or since, and he pursued his invention with a passion that few could comprehend. Disappointments and frustration