Where do inventive ideas come from? Sometimes they come out of the dark. That happened with Becky Schroeder's Glo-Sheets.
Becky was ten years old when she began experimenting with phosphorescent (Shining with a phosphoric light; luminous without sensible heat) materials, which give off light but not heat. Then she covered an acrylic board with phosphorescent paint.
Acrylic is an especially tough plastic. After Becky exposed the board to light, the paint glowed through one or two sheets of paper in the dark.
Becky patented her invention when she was only twelve. Luckily, her father was a patent lawyer. All together, she got twelve patents for Glo-Sheets and improvements on them.
By 1983, Becky was twenty two and had started a company to market her Glo-Sheets. Doctors have used Glo-Sheets so they can read medical charts or take notes in dim hospital rooms without disturbing their patients. Becky has also sold Glo-Sheets to police departments and the United States Navy.
I create and post Social Media content for a science enrichment company called Mad Science of Chicago. In the month of March, which is Woman History Month in the US, I am posting a new, female scientist, inventor, mathematician, etc. each day of the month. I found Becky Schroeder's name and your blog had the best bits of information on her, so I am citing it. I just wanted to let you know. If you are interested in following my posts, you can "like" www.facebook.com/madsciencechicago.
BalasHapusThank you for your contributions to science reporting!
Take care,
Tess Kearns