He was Belgian born US chemist who discovered Bakelite. Born in Ghent and educated at the University of Ghent, Baekeland gained his doctorate in 1884. He was appointed shortly afterwards to the chair of chemistry at Brugers University, but after a honey moon trip the USA chose in 1889 to leave Belgium permanently. Baekeland initially worked in the field of photography, inventing Velos, a special photographic paper that permitted pictures to be printed in artificial light. He opted to sell discovery to Eastman Kodak for $25,000. However, before he could begin the negotiation George Eastman offered him one million dollars, for the invention. With this totally unexpected fortune Baekeland retired to Yonkers, New York, to work in his private laboratory.Here Baekeland dedicated himself to finding a substitute for shellac. As it takes 150000 insects and six months to produce one pound of shellac, there was clearly a great fortune to be made for anyone who could produce the substance artificially. Baekeland was aware, as indeed most of the chemist, of the sticky resin that forms when phenols and aldehydes are heated together; with no apparent use, it merely clogged up valuable equipment. He found that when subjected to prolonged heating under pressure, the resin turned out to have a surprising number of useful properties. It was hard, insoluble, could be machined, molded, colored , dyed and , though light, was remarkably strong. It was in fact, the first thermosetting plastic, name Bakelite in 1909.As president of Bakelite Corporation (1910-39), Baekeland saw that his product gained worldwide use in both industry and the home.
