Spencer Silver
Encyclopedia
Spencer Ferguson Silver (born 1941) is an American chemist who, together with Arthur Fry
, invented Post-it note
s in 1970.
Silver was born in San Antonio, Texas. He majored in chemistry at Arizona State University
, earning a B.S. in 1962, then earned a doctorate in organic chemistry from the University of Colorado
in 1966, before taking a position as a Senior Chemist in 3M
's Central Research Labs.
Silver is now named on over 20 US patents; but his most significant invention was not an immediate success. In 1968, Silver developed a high-quality but "low-tack" adhesive, made of tiny, indestructible acrylic spheres that would stick only where they were tangent to a given surface, rather than flat up against it. As a result, the adhesive's grip was strong enough to hold papers together, but weak enough to allow the papers to be pulled apart again without being torn. More importantly, the adhesive could be used again and again.
Silver wanted to market the adhesive as a spray, or as a surface for bulletin boards on which temporary notices could be easily posted and then removed. Over the next five years, Silver tried to interest his colleagues at 3M, informally and in presentations. A marketable form of the product proved elusive however, until Arthur Fry attended one of Silver's seminars.
Fry sang in his church choir. He was frustrated with the paper bookmarks he used to mark the songs in his hymnal because they would not stay put. In a moment of insight, Fry realized that Silver's reusable adhesive would provide precisely what he needed.
Fry wrote up his idea for a reusable bookmark and presented it to his supervisors. Initially, management was skeptical, but the staff could not get enough of the samples Fry was passing around. Soon, 3M gave the invention its full support. It took another five years to perfect and design machines to manufacture the product, but on April 6, 1980, Post-it Notes were introduced nationwide in the US. Within two years, the product became very popular in the office, schools, labs, libraries and homes.
Both Silver and Fry won 3M's highest honors for research and numerous awards within the international engineering community. Silver still works at 3M, specializing in adhesives technology. In his spare time, he has also won a reputation as an accomplished painter in pastels and oils.
Arthur Fry
Arthur Fry is a retired American inventor and scientist. He is credited as the co-creator of the Post-it note, an item of office stationery manufactured by 3M. As of 2006, Post-it note products are sold in more than 100 countries....
, invented Post-it note
Post-it note
A Post-it note is a piece of stationery with a re-adherable strip of adhesive on the back, designed for temporarily attaching notes to documents and other surfaces. Although now available in a wide range of colours, shapes, and sizes, Post-it notes are most commonly a square, canary yellow in colour...
s in 1970.
Silver was born in San Antonio, Texas. He majored in chemistry at Arizona State University
Arizona State University
Arizona State University is a public research university located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area of the State of Arizona...
, earning a B.S. in 1962, then earned a doctorate in organic chemistry from the University of Colorado
University of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...
in 1966, before taking a position as a Senior Chemist in 3M
3M
3M Company , formerly known as the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation based in Maplewood, Minnesota, United States....
's Central Research Labs.
Silver is now named on over 20 US patents; but his most significant invention was not an immediate success. In 1968, Silver developed a high-quality but "low-tack" adhesive, made of tiny, indestructible acrylic spheres that would stick only where they were tangent to a given surface, rather than flat up against it. As a result, the adhesive's grip was strong enough to hold papers together, but weak enough to allow the papers to be pulled apart again without being torn. More importantly, the adhesive could be used again and again.
Silver wanted to market the adhesive as a spray, or as a surface for bulletin boards on which temporary notices could be easily posted and then removed. Over the next five years, Silver tried to interest his colleagues at 3M, informally and in presentations. A marketable form of the product proved elusive however, until Arthur Fry attended one of Silver's seminars.
Fry sang in his church choir. He was frustrated with the paper bookmarks he used to mark the songs in his hymnal because they would not stay put. In a moment of insight, Fry realized that Silver's reusable adhesive would provide precisely what he needed.
Fry wrote up his idea for a reusable bookmark and presented it to his supervisors. Initially, management was skeptical, but the staff could not get enough of the samples Fry was passing around. Soon, 3M gave the invention its full support. It took another five years to perfect and design machines to manufacture the product, but on April 6, 1980, Post-it Notes were introduced nationwide in the US. Within two years, the product became very popular in the office, schools, labs, libraries and homes.
Both Silver and Fry won 3M's highest honors for research and numerous awards within the international engineering community. Silver still works at 3M, specializing in adhesives technology. In his spare time, he has also won a reputation as an accomplished painter in pastels and oils.