Arthur D Little

The pioneer of the private consulting laboratory was Arthur D. Little.  Little, like Wallis Whitney, studied chemistry at MIT.  In 1886 he and another chemist started their own Chemical Laboratory at 103 Milk Street in Boston,  Unfortunately, his partner died from a laboratory experiment but Little went on alone. 

In Paris at the Exposition in 1889, Little observe artificial silk made from nitrocellulose and became interest in artificial fibers.  He secured an American license for the "viscose process" - using natural sources like wood or agricultural products to make artificial fibers that can imitate silk, wool, cotton or linen depending on the type. 

Few businessmen were interested in backing Little's ideas until the Cellulose Products Company.  The company itself was a financial failure, but before that it had opened up a new world of cellulose products.  Eastman Kodak bought the firm's patent for the first nonflammable motion picture film.  Lustron Company bought the patents for "artificial silk" which pioneered the American manufacture of acetate silk.

Little wrote a textbook on paper manufacturing and in 1911, the United Fruit Company hired him to find a way to make paper from "bagasse" -  the waste fiber by-product from making sugar from cane.  Little first devised an experimental paper machine, becoming one of the earliest "pilot plants" in the U.S. and helping to establish the practice of building factories expressly to test new technologies.  This was far less risky that large scale production and these pilot plants stimulated the search for new innovative ideas and products.

Next time...Little Builds a Palace

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Today in Pioneer History: "On June 1, 1967, the Beatles release Sgt Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band, turning the critical corner in the band's history.  Paul is recorded as saying that they were not boys anymore and they didn't want the screaming.  It went on to be one of the iconic albums of all time."  I was never a screamer but I love this album!