Baekeland in his laboratory. Leo Henricus Arthur Baekeland (November 14, 1863 - February 23, 1944) was a Belgian-American chemist. He graduated with honors from the Ghent Municipal Technical School and was awarded a scholarship by the City of Ghent to stu
Baekeland in his laboratory. Leo Henricus Arthur Baekeland (November 14, 1863 - February 23, 1944) was a Belgian-American chemist. He graduated with honors from the Ghent Municipal Technical School and was awarded a scholarship by the City of Ghent to study chemistry at the University of Ghent, where he acquired a PhD maxima cum laude at the age of 21. In 1889 while honeymooning in New York City, he met Richard Anthony, part owner of a photographic company. Baekeland had already invented a process to develop photographic plates using water instead of other chemicals, and was interested in moving to America; Anthony saw potential in the young chemist and offered him a job. In 1893 he perfected the process to produce a photographic paper that would allow enlargements to be printed by artificial light, which he named Velox. When asked why he entered the field of synthetic resins, Baekeland answered "to make money." By controlling the pressure and temperature applied to phenol and formaldehyde, he invented Bakelite. The chemical name of Bakelite is polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride. His process patent for making insoluble products of phenol and formaldehyde was filed in July 1907, and granted on December 7, 1909. His invention of Bakelite, an inexpensive, nonflammable, versatile, and popular plastic, marked the beginning of the modern plastics industry. He sold the General Bakelite Company to Union Carbide in 1939 and, at his son's prompting, he retired. He died in 1944, at the age of 80, of a cerebral hemorrhage. No photographer credited, undated.
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