According to the New York Times the
inventor of Super Glue, Dr. Harry Coover, died last Saturday. He was 94 years old.
On the very day Dr. Coover passed away, Brent was attempting to Super Glue his Power Balance wristband together after the plastic split apart. Brent was very sorry the surgery was unsuccessful.
Needless to say, when I saw the glued wristband in the recovery room (okay, on a paper towel in the kitchen), my immediately thought was that Brent will try to fix anything with glue! Can you imagine the faith needed to believe Super Glue will bond a silicone wristband together?
Brent is generally partial to his favorite, all purpose Gorilla Glue, but Super Glue was sort of the grandfather that begat all the super sticky adhesives. I actually get a kick out of Brent’s bold efforts to start any and all repair work giving glue the first shot. Occasionally (use term very loosely), glue actually works.
Anyway, Dr. Coover fondly became known as “Mr. Super Glue” even though the prolific inventor held 640 other patents in his name (guess it was the patent name that “stuck" - haha!)
Super Glue was one of those unintentional “eureka type" discoveries Dr. Coover made with another researcher back in 1951 while looking for a temperature resistant coating for jet cockpits. He unveiled Super Glue during a live television show where a metal bar was lowered onto the stage. Dr. Coover super glued another metal bar to the lowered one, had his daughter grab hold, and she was raised in the air on the strength of his invention. Ta-da!
I’m always the naysayer but after reading of this TV demonstration featuring Dr. Coover’s daughter I’m beginning to wonder why Brent’s wristband mend didn’t work after all. But, despite the glitch (my politically correct term for failure), I’m sure Brent will continue to be a staunch supporter of Super Glue. Brent is nothing if not loyal and tenacious, so glue will continue to reign supreme in our household for fast repair jobs (efficacy notwithstanding). But it does look like his treasured (albeit of questionable powers) Power Balance wristband will need to be replaced.
