Noble Obsession: Charles Goodyear, Thomas Hancock, and the Race to Unlock the Greatest Industrial Secret of the Nineteenth Century

Everyday from the elastic bands in the office to the tires on planes and automobiles, rubber keeps the world moving and together. The story of how it went from an impractical curiosity to a modern marvel of science is the subject of this fascinating story. Charles Goodyear was a failed businessman with a determination to wrest from India-gum rubber the secret of the age. How to prepare the substance so it could withstand the extremes of heat and cold. Without this knowledge all rubber products were doomed to a short life span and an ignominious end as a sticky glob or a frozen and brittle pile of scraps. Goodyear sacrifices all the comforts he has; he begs and borrows shamelessly from his friend and family. He is thrown into debtor's prison more than once. His family sickens from lack of heat and proper nutrition. Against all the odds, the crackpot genius does discover the long sought process and then his REAL troubles start. If Charles Goodyear thought that no one wants to be your friend when you are unsuccessful, his list of enemies Is nothing compared to when he has success in his grasp. Out of the woodwork come charlatans and crooks all ready willing and able to steal the victory laurels from their rightful owner. This is the kind of story that fill the headlines today and makes us all lament about hoe much better things were in the `old days'. The more things change they more they stay the same.

Most writers of history - even the commercially successful ones - make the same mistake. They write books that are mere chronological recitations of fact and minutiae, with little regard for narrative. But Charles Slack deftly avoids this trap. His subject is seemingly arcane - the discovery of the vulcanization process for rubber. But, perhaps because he is a former journalist rather than an academic, Slack never loses his grip on the storyline that makes the life of Charles Goodyear so compelling. Goodyear, we come to realize, is a true American hero, who worked doggedly to solve one of the greatest riddles of the industrial age, triumphing in the end over charlatans who fought to deprive him of the money and recognition he deserved. This is a great read about an overlooked chapter in US history.

Noble Obsession tells the gripping story of how Charles Goodyear dedicated his life to turning a gooey sap, sticky when warm and brittle when cold, into stable, vulcanized rubber. Obsessed with rubber and with what could be done with it, Goodyear braved abject poverty, debtors' prison, personal illness, the deaths of his first wife and most of his children, legal battles, and more, to perfect his invention. He lived to see the world benefit enormously from what he did. Yet other than the posthumous honor of having what would become the world's largest rubber company named after him - a company founded by Frank and Charles Seiberling 20 years after his death - Goodyear and his family received virtually nothing. In a climactic final chapter, Slack brilliantly weaves the entire story together. Deliciously written by a writer of rapidly increasing fame, Noble Obsession is one of the most interesting, absorbing books that I have ever read. Don't miss it.

It is amazing how well the story of rubber has been told in a lucid and entertaining manner. The book is well-researched and has authentic references. Slack uses an easy reading narrative style to bring out the poignant story of rubber. The drama involving various "actors" from both sides of the Atlantic has been told in a way that arouses suspense page-by-page. The court battles involving Goodyear (and Webster) and the hacks is well told. In all, an informative story that truly establishes the relative place in history of all the key players in the story of rubber - inital failures to vulcanisation. A great read!