Samuel Stephens Kistler (March 26, 1900 November 6, 1975) was an American

scientist A scientist is a person who Scientific method, researches to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engag ...

and

chemical engineer A chemical engineer is a professional equipped with the knowledge of chemistry and other basic sciences who works principally in the chemical industry to convert basic raw materials into a variety of Product (chemistry), products and deals with ...

, best known as the

inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea, or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...

aerogel Aerogels are a class of manufacturing, synthetic porous ultralight material derived from a gel, in which the liquid component for the gel has been replaced with a gas, without significant collapse of the gel structure. The result is a solid wit ...

s, one of the lightest known

solid Solid is a state of matter where molecules are closely packed and can not slide past each other. Solids resist compression, expansion, or external forces that would alter its shape, with the degree to which they are resisted dependent upon the ...

materials.

Biography

Kistler, the son of a shopkeeper, was born in the small town of Cedarville in the far northeastern corner of

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. The family moved to the larger Santa Rosa when Kistler was 12, where he first became interested in

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

. When he entered the College of the Pacific in 1917, however, his plan was to learn to play the

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

, then pursue a degree in

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

. Instead, he ended up taking every science course available, and after three years he moved to

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

and obtained a B.A. in chemistry, followed by a chemical engineering degree. He never did learn to play the cello. After a brief spell working for the

Standard Oil Company of California Chevron Corporation is an American multinational energy corporation predominantly specializing in oil and gas. The second-largest direct descendant of Standard Oil, and originally known as the Standard Oil Company of California (shortened to ...

, he returned to

academia An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

, teaching chemistry at the College of the Pacific until 1931, when he transferred to the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

Invention

The exact circumstances of the creation of the first aerogels are not well recorded. A popular story is that they resulted from a competition between Kistler and one Charles Learned "to see if they could replace the liquid inside of a jelly jar without causing any shrinkage". Whether these experiments were performed at the College of the Pacific, still with limited facilities following the move in 1923 to the new Stockton campus, or at Stanford, where Kistler began pursuing a doctorate in 1927, is a source of some confusion. Either way, in 1931 Kistler published a paper in ''

Nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...

'' (vol. 127, p. 741) titled "Coherent Expanded Aerogels and Jellies". He left his teaching post at the

in 1935 and signed a contract with

Monsanto Company The Monsanto Company () was an American agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation founded in 1901 and headquartered in Creve Coeur, Missouri. Monsanto's best-known product is Roundup, a glyphosate-based herbicide, developed in ...

in the early 1940s to start developing granular

silica Silicon dioxide, also known as silica, is an oxide of silicon with the chemical formula , commonly found in nature as quartz. In many parts of the world, silica is the major constituent of sand. Silica is one of the most complex and abundant f ...

products under the trademark ''Santocel''. Largely used as a flattening agent in paints and for similar uses, the line was discontinued by Monsanto in 1970, probably due to the high cost of manufacture and competition from newer products. Kistler had returned to teaching, however, taking up a position as Dean of the University of Utah College of Engineering in 1952.

Glass strengthening

In 1962 Kistler published an innovative paper on a new way of chemical strengthening of the glass by replacing the smaller sodium ions with larger potassium ones by

ion exchange Ion exchange is a reversible interchange of one species of ion present in an insoluble solid with another of like charge present in a solution surrounding the solid. Ion exchange is used in softening or demineralizing of water, purification of ch ...

. The technology was further developed and soon commercialized by Corning, and it's now used in Gorilla Glass and similar products.

Death

He died in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

in November 1975, shortly before the resurgence of interest in

s caused by the discovery of a less time-consuming method of manufacture by researchers led by Stanislaus Teichner in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kistler, Steven American chemical engineers People from Modoc County, California University of Utah faculty 1900 births 1975 deaths Stanford University alumni University of Illinois alumni Engineers from California 20th-century American engineers 20th-century American inventors Monsanto employees 20th-century American chemists