Talk:Steven Kistler

contradiction?
These pages do seem to contradict:


 * aerogel:
 * Aerogel was first created by Steven Kistler in 1931, as a result of a bet with Charles Learned over who could replace the liquid inside a jam (jelly) jar with gas without causing shrinkage. The first results were silica gels. Aerogel can be made of many different materials; Kistler's work involved aerogels based on silica, alumina, chromia, and tin. Carbon aerogels were first developed in the early 1990s.


 * silica gel:
 * Silica gel was patented by chemistry professor Walter A. Patrick at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland in 1919. Prior to that it was already used in World War I for the adsorption of vapors and gases in gas mask canisters and before that the substance was in existence as early as the 1640s as a scientific curiosity (Feldman 2003). In World War II silica gel was indispensable in the war effort in keeping penicillin dry, in protecting military equipment from moisture damage, as a fluid cracking catalyst for the production of high octane gasoline and as a catalyst support for the manufacture of butadiene from alcohol, an integral part of the synthetic rubber program.

1919? 1931?  1990's?

Hopiakuta 02:45, 30 August 2006 (UTC)


 * Because they are not synonymous? Wikipedia also gives different invention dates for submarines and aeroplanes. --zippedmartin 05:44, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

Haha lol. Just to clarify to anyone else who remains confused... Aerogels and Silica gels are NOT the same thing... infact that should be clear just from reading the articles for each... I guess some people are just stupid. Aside from that, I'd like to ask an intelligent question: Did no one know his birth year? That's seems odd, yet it's not mentioned. fildon 00:48(GMT :)), 19th of March 2007