Wonder Book of Rubber #PRD 2-2069

B. F. Goodrich sets his sights on transforming Akron into the heart of America’s rubber industry, launching the first major rubber plant west of the Atlantic seaboard in 1870. With vision and determination, he lays the foundation for a manufacturing boom that will define an era.

Sir Henry Wickham’s quiet mission at Kew Gardens set off a chain of events that reshaped landscapes and economies across southeast Asia. His work in transplanting rubber trees from the Amazon to Ceylon laid the foundation for vast plantations that would transform global industry.

In the lead-up to World War II, chemists Michael Faraday, Dr. Waldo L. Semon, and John L. Collyer collaborate to unlock the science behind rubber’s composition, paving the way for a synthetic compound that could secure American independence from foreign sources. Their work blends historical insight with practical innovation, turning laboratory discovery into a national necessity.