Flameproof head guys
When Maurice Ward began tinkering with
chemicals in a ladies’ hairdressing salon he never dreamed he was on
the way to revolutionizing the American space program. All the
Middlesbrough hairdresser was trying to achieve was a flame retardant
wig but it eventually led to the discovery of a plastic that can stop a
nuclear blast.
So begins an April 1994 article in the Sunday Sun, written by Keith Dufton, about the inventor Maurice Ward. Mr. Ward’s work is echoed in the more recent — and more advanced — work of 1998 Ig Nobel Prize winner Troy Hurtubise, whose flameproof materials are said to be a wonder. The Discovery Channel film of him applying a blowtorch to his head is impressive.
(Thanks to David Crane of DefenseReview.com for bringing Maurice Ward to our attention.)