LEST WE FORGET!
From: NEN, Vol. 3, No. 6, November 1995, pp. 4-5.
DID YOU KNOW . . .
* that Albert Einstein was considered retarded, Isaac Newton was thought to be a slow learner, Joseph Priestly (the discoverer of oxygen) never took a science course, and Louis Pasteur got a C in chemistry.
* that in 1876 when G. G. Hubbard learned of his future son-in-law's invention, he called it "only a toy." This daughter was engaged to a young man named Alexander Graham Bell.
* that in 1969 the New York Times published an apology for once printing derisive comments about an inventor's theory. Robert Goddard was on the receiving end of the Time's criticism of his contention that rockets could operate in outer space. The apology was printed the day after Apollo 11 left earth orbit for the moon.
* that in the early 1940's a GE engineer was charged with a task of utmost importance to the war effort: develop a cheap substitute for rubber that would be used to produce tires, gas masks, and a whole host of military gear. James Wright tackled the task diligently -- and wound up inventing Silly Putty. Good thing he didn't work on the artificial heart.
* that neither Wilber nor Orville Wright graduated from high school. However, they were both avid readers .
* that Charles Goodyear began his experiments on rubber in a debtors' prison. He was there so often that he referred to it as his "hotel."
* that Darryl F. Zanuck of 20th Century Fox thought TV was just a passing fancy. In 1946 he said, 'Video won't be able to hold any market after the first six months. People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night."
* that in the fall of 1989 the Cold Fusion panel of the Energy Research Advisory Board to the DOE concluded, "The panel recommends against special funding for the investigation of phenomena attributed to cold fusion."