Audio
(ENG) Goldenrod (318)
Transcript
NARRATOR—Late in his life, Mr. Edison began an exhaustive series of chemistry experiments, testing various plants as sources of synthetic rubber. Norman Spieden, the first laboratory curator, spoke in 1961.
NORMAN SPIEDEN— Edison used to go on camping trips with Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone. And those two men were very much concerned about the fact that all of the rubber supply for this country came from halfway around the world, out in the Dutch East Indies and the Malay Peninsula. And Edison wanted to find some plant that would grow within the limits of this country, from which we could get rubber in case of emergency. So he began to study botany when he was 80 years old. … And between the age of 80 and 84, he tested 17,000 different kinds of plants for rubber. … And he found some rubber in about 1200 different plants. And out of the 1200, there were 40 that had appreciable quantities of rubber. And from the 40 plants, he chose goldenrod, because that was the only one that would grow anywhere in the country. … And also it was a one-season plant. You didn’t have to plant it for years before you needed the rubber.[1]
NARRATOR—Edison died before completing his work on the project.
[1] Norman Spieden 1/25/1961, excerpt from transfer no. 393-01
Description
English audio guide for Goldenrod, #318
Date Created
01/01/2007
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