Leo Baekeland
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2008-07-16T09:57:31Z
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/* See also */
{{Infobox Person
|name=Leo Hendrik Baekeland
|image=
|caption=(1863-1944)
|birth_date=[[November 14]] [[1863]]
|birth_place=[[Ghent]], [[Belgium]]
|death_date={{Dda|1944|2|23|1863|11|14}}
|death_place=[[Beacon, NY]], [[USA]]
|known_for=[[plastics]] research
|occupation=[[chemist]]/[[inventor]]
}}
'''Leo Hendrik Baekeland''' ([[Ghent]], [[November 14]], [[1863]] - [[February 23]], [[1944]]) was a [[Belgian-American]] [[chemist]] who invented [[Velox (paper)|Velox]] photographic paper ([[1893]]) and [[Bakelite]] ([[1907]]), an inexpensive, nonflammable, versatile, and popular [[plastic]]<ref name="heritage">
{{cite web
|url=http://www.chemheritage.org/classroom/chemach/plastics/baekeland.html
|title=Chemical Achievers: Leo Hendrik Baekeland
|publisher=Chemical Heritage Foundation
|date=2005
|accessdate=2007-11-08
}}
</ref><ref name="time">
{{cite web
|url=http://www.time.com/time/time100/scientist/profile/baekeland.html
|title=Time 100: Leo Baekeland
|first=Ivan
|last=Amato
|date=1999-03-29
|accessdate=2007-11-08
}}
</ref>.
Born in [[Ghent, Belgium]], Baekeland was the son of a cobbler and a maid. Upon completing his doctorate at the [[University of Ghent]], he emigrated to America in [[1889]]<ref name="heritage"/>.
Baekeland sold his [[patent]] for Velox photographic paper to the president of [[Kodak]], [[George Eastman]], for $1,000,000<ref name="time"/>.
The invention of Bakelite is the beginning of the [[Age of Plastics]]<ref name="time"/>. Bakelite was made from [[phenol]] (then known as carbolic acid) and [[formaldehyde]]. These can be mixed, heated, and then either molded or extruded<ref name="heritage"/><ref name="time"/>. The [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]] winning [[Germany|German]] [[Adolf von Baeyer]] had experimented with this material in [[1872]], but did not complete its development. Bakelite took the industry by storm after [[1907]]<ref name="heritage"/>.
Bakelite was the first plastic invented that held its shape after being heated. [[Radio]]s, [[telephone]]s and [[electrical insulator]]s were made of Bakelite because of its properties of insulation and heat-resistance. Soon it penetrated nearly all branches of industry<ref name="time"/>.
==The invention of Bakelite==
When asked why he entered the field of synthetic resins, Baekeland answered "to make money". His first objective was to find a replacement for [[shellac]] (made from the excretion of lac beetles)<ref name="heritage"/>. Chemists had begun to recognize that many of the natural resins and fibers were polymers. Baekeland began to investigate the reactions of phenol and formaldehyde. He first produced a soluble phenol-formaldehyde shellac (called "Novolak" that never became a market success). Then he turned to developing a binder for asbestos, which at that time was molded with rubber. By controlling the pressure and temperature applied to phenol and formaldehyde, he could produce his dreamed-of hard moldable plastic: bakelite<ref name="heritage"/>. The official name of Bakelite is polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride<ref name="time"/>.
==Decline and death==
As Baekeland got older, he became more eccentric, getting into fierce battles with his son (and presumptive heir) over salary and other issues. He sold the General Bakelite Company to [[Union Carbide]] in 1939, and at his son's prompting, he retired. He became a recluse, eating all of his meals from cans and becoming obsessed with developing an immense tropical garden on his Florida estate. He died of a [[cerebrovascular accident|cerebral hemorrhage]] in a sanatorium in [[Beacon, New York]]. Baekeland is buried in [[Sleepy Hollow Cemetery]] in [[Sleepy Hollow, New York]] <ref>[http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7704571 Find A Grave Memorial: L. Baekeland]</ref>.
Leo Baekeland was the grandfather of Brooks Baekeland, whose wife [[Barbara Daly Baekeland]] was murdered by their son, Antony in 1972.
== Name ==
Baekeland told ''The [[Literary Digest]]'': "The name is a Dutch word meaning 'Land of Beacons,' '' Funk & Wagnalls, 1936.)
==See also==
* [[Bakelite]]
* [[Bakelite Museum]]
* [[Plastics]]
== References ==
<references/>
== External links==
*[http://www.chemheritage.org/classroom/chemach/plastics/baekeland.html Chemical Achievers: Leo Hendrik Baekeland]
*[http://www.time.com/time/time100/scientist/profile/baekeland.html The Time 100: Leo Baekeland]
*[http://juliensart.be/bakeliet Virtual Bakelite Museum of Ghent 1907-2007]
*[http://www.bakelitemuseum.de A virtual Bakelite museum with a short biography of Leo Baekeland]
*[http://www.baekelandfonds.com The Baekeland fund]
==Further reading==
* {{cite encyclopedia
| last = Farber
| first = Eduard
| title = Baekeland, Leo Hendrik
| encyclopedia = [[Dictionary of Scientific Biography]]
| volume = 1
| pages = 385
| publisher = Charles Scribner's Sons
| location = New York
| date= 1970
| isbn = 0684101149
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baekeland, Leo}}
{{Presidents of the American Chemical Society}}
[[Category:1863 births]]
[[Category:1944 deaths]]
[[Category:American inventors]]
[[Category:Belgian Americans]]
[[Category:Belgian chemists]]
[[Category:American chemists]]
[[Category:Naturalized citizens of the United States]]
[[Category:People from Florida]]
[[Category:People from Ghent]]
[[Category:People from Dutchess County, New York]]
[[Category:Polymer scientists and engineers]]
[[Category:Ghent University alumni]]
[[Category:Perkin Medal]]
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