Samuel Stephens Kistler (March 26, 1900 – ??, 1975) was a US scientist and chemical engineer, best known as the inventor of aerogels, the lightest known solid materials. March 26 is the 85th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (86th in leap years). ... 1900 is a common year starting on Monday. ... 1975 was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ... Wikiquote has a collection of quotations by or about: United States Wikinews has news related to this article: United States United States government CIA World Factbook Entry for United States House. ... This article is about the profession. ... Chemical engineering is the application of science, mathematics and economics to the process of converting raw materials or chemicals into more useful or valuable forms. ... An inventor is a person who creates new inventions, typically technical devices such as mechanical, electrical or software devices or methods. ... A 2. ... A solid is a state of matter, characterized by a definite volume and a definite shape (i. ...

Born in the small town of Cedarville in the far Northeastern corner of California, son of a shop keeper, the family moved to the larger Santa Rosa when Kistler was 12, where he first became interested in chemistry.¹ When he entered the College of the Pacific in 1917 however, his plan was to learn to play the cello, then pursue a degree in agriculture. Instead he ended up taking every science course available, and after three years he moved to Stanford University and obtained a B.A. in chemistry, followed by a chemical engeneering degree. He never did learn to play the cello. After a brief spell working for the Standard Oil Company of California, he returned to academia, teaching chemistry at the College of the Pacific until 1931, when he transfered to the University of Illinois. Cedarville is a town located in Modoc County, California. ... State nickname: The Golden State Other U.S. States Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) Official languages English Area 410,000 km² (3rd)  - Land 404,298 km²  - Water 20,047 km² (4. ... Santa Rosa is the county seat of Sonoma County, California. ... Chemistry (in Greek: χημεία) is the science of matter and its interactions with energy and itself (see physics, biology). ... The University of the Pacific, formerly College of the Pacific, is an independent university, first chartered in 1851 in Santa Clara, California under the name California Wesleyan College. ... 1917 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... A cropped image to show the relative size of a cello to a human (Uncropped Version) The violoncello, or as it is more commonly to refered to as the cello or cello (pronounced Cheh-loh), is a stringed instrument and a member of the violin family. ... For other meanings of Stanford, see Stanford (disambiguation). ... Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) is one of the worlds largest global energy companies. ... Plato is credited with the inception of academia: the body of knowledge, its development and transmission across generations. ... 1931 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... The University of Illinois is the set of three public universities in Illinois. ...

The exact circumstances of the creation of the first aerogels is not well recorded, a popular story is that they resulted from a competition between Kisler and one Charles Learned "to see if they could replace the liquid inside of a jelly jar without causing any shrinkage".² 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 (vol. 127, p. 741) titled "Coherent Expanded Aerogels and Jellies". 1923 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... City nickname: Californias Sunshine Seaport County: San Joaquin Area code: 209 ZIP code: 952xx Area:  - Total  - Water 144. ... 1927 was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1931 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... Nature is one of the oldest and most reputable general-purpose scientific journals, first published on November 4, 1869. ...

Leaving his teaching post at the University of Illinois in 1935, and signed a contract with Monsanto in the early 1940s to start developing granular silica aerogel products under the trandemark Santocel. Largely used as a fattening agent in paints and similar uses, Monsanto discontinued the line 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 Engineering at the University of Utah in 1952. He died in 1975, shortly before the resurgence of interest in aerogels caused by the discovery of a less time consuming method of manufacture by researchers in France. 1935 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Monsanto Company (NYSE: MON) is a multinational agricultural biotechnology corporation. ... 1940 was a leap year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... The chemical compound silicon dioxide, also known as silica, is the oxide of silicon, chemical formula SiO2. ... 1970 was a common year starting on Thursday. ... In an educational setting, a dean is a person with significant authority . ... The University of Utah (also The U or the U of U) was established by Mormon leader Brigham Young. ... 1952 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... 1975 was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ... A 2. ...

Sources

• Note 1: At Elevated Pressures: The Life and Science of Samuel S. Kistler
• Note 2: Aerogels FAQ