#69 Charles Goodyear: An Inventor's Obsession and the Struggle for a Rubber Monopoly

Long before America became an international economic powerhouse in the late nineteenth century. A generation of visionary inventors gambled on innovations they hoped would bring them riches. Chief among them was Charles Goodyear, who in the eighteen thirties began an obsessive quest to find the recipe for rubber. The material he believed would change the world. Chasing his dream exacted a stiff price.

Plunging Goodyear and his family. into an underworld of poverty and litigation. He spent extended periods in debtor's prison. and acquired powerful enemies determined to control this miracle substance before he did. His victory in a dramatic lawsuit argued by Daniel Webster.

Made Goodyear into an American legend. But it never released him. From his tragic fixation or relieve the pain it caused those close to him. The Goodyear story is a fascinating biography that also provides a panoramic view of America. at the dawn of its industrial revolution.

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