Ray McIntire:
Ray McIntire was an American chemical engineer.
Birth:
August 24, 1911 in Gardner, Kansas
Death:
February 2, 1996 in Midland, Michigan
Claim to Fame:
McIntire was an American chemical engineer who invented foam polystyrene, commonly known as Styrofoam. He was searching for a substance to replace rubber as a flexible electrical insulator from polystyrene. Polystyrene is a good insulator, but is too brittle. He thought he could soften it up by adding isobutylene under pressure, but what he got was bubbles of polystyrene that formed the foam known as Styrofoam.
