The book
Mistakes That Worked outlines the stories behind well-known inventions that were created or named by accident, such as with Coca-Cola and penicillin. It has a section on Silly Putty, which is way more versatile than I thought:
It stretches. It bounces. When whacked with a hammer, it shatters. If it is pressed against newspaper comics, it will pick up the imprint. Silly Putty is truly amazing. It is now over forty years old, and was one of the first "fad" toys in America.
It has been used by athletes to strengthen their hand and forearm muscles. It can level the leg of a wiggly table or clean typewriter keys. It removes lint from clothes and animal hair from furniture.
The astronauts on the Apollo 8 spacecraft played with Silly Putty when they got bored, and they used it to keep tools from floating around after they left the Earth's gravity.
It was used by the Columbus Zoo in Ohio in 1981 to take hand and foot prints of gorillas.
- Mistakes That Worked
On another note, I can't believe I was incorrectly saying it as "
just desserts" up to now.
