Stephanie Kwolek (1923–2014) was an American chemist. She invented Kevlar, an exceptionally strong yet lightweight synthetic fibre—eight times stronger than steel wire. Before discovering a love of chemistry, Kwolek had wanted to be a fashion designer. In 1959, she devised the Nylon Rope Trick, which demonstrated a simple way of producing nylon in a beaker at room temperature.

Uses of Kevlar

Kevlar was first commercially used in the early 1970s in racing tyres, but it soon found an important use as life-saving bullet-proof vests for law enforcement officers and soldiers. The material has many other applications, including tennis rackets, boats, aeroplanes, cables, tyres, skis, brake pads, oven gloves and mobile telephone bodyshells. Kevlar's properties are partly due to its internal structure—how its molecules are arranged in regular, parallel lines—and partly due to the way its fibres are tightly knitted together.