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Charles Goodyear (December 29, 1800 – July 1, 1860) was an American inventor who developed a process to vulcanize rubber in 1839, which he improved while living and working in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1844, and for which he received patent number 3633 from the United States Patent Office on June 15, 1844.

Though Goodyear is often credited with its invention, modern evidence has proven that the Mesoamericans used stabilized rubber for balls and other objects as early as 1600 BC. Goodyear discovered the vulcanization process accidentally after five years of searching for a more stable rubber and stumbling upon the effectiveness of heating.


Discovery of vulcanization

In 1838, Goodyear met Nathaniel Hayward in Woburn, Massachusetts, where Hayward ran a rubber factory. Goodyear was interested in Hayward's process of drying rubber using sulfur, and some time after this Goodyear himself moved to Woburn, where he continued his experiments.

The circumstances of the discovery of vulcanization are described by Goodyear in his book, "Gum Elastic and Its Varieties, with a detailed account of its application and uses and of the Discovery of Vulcanization."

Some say (Damian Francis Mullin, circa Feb 1865) that Goodyear tried the experiment over an open flame, and saw that the gum elastic was charred, but on the edge of the charred areas were portions that were cured instead of charred. Other sources claim that Goodyear accidentally spilled the rubber mixture on a hot stove and observed the effects of vulcanization. Others claim that Heywood was the original discoverer of vulcanization, but Goodyear named it and more successfully marketed and industrialized it. In any case, the key discovery was that heating natural rubber and sulfur created vulcanized rubber, which was refined to become the vulcanizing process. Goodyear himself admitted that the discovery of the vulcanizing process was not discovered via the scientific method, but claims that it was the result of application and observing Mr. Hayward's process rather than pure accident..

Because Goodyear was sure that he had finally created vulcanized rubber, he immediately began to inform his friends and attempted to secure capital. However, his previous failures prevented him from convincing his friends or getting the necessary money. For a number of years, Goodyear and his family suffered in poverty; however, Goodyear continued his work. Eventually he went to New York City and showed vulcanized rubber to William and Emory Ryder, brothers, who immediately realized the value of the discovery and started manufacture. Even here, Goodyear's bad luck seemed to follow him, for the Ryder Bros. had failed and it was impossible to continue the business.