Meet Stephanie Kwolek, the woman who gave us bulletproof vests and yoga pants

https://massivesci.com/articles/stephanie-kwolek-spandex-kevlar-dupont-science-hero/?utm_source=pocket-newtab

Dan Samorodnitsky
July 31, 2019

There’s a pile of fibers that Stephanie Kwolek helped invent. She laid the groundwork for NomexⓇ, the flame-resistant nylon-like material used in firefighters’ suits. She was involved in the development of spandex (LycraⓇ). But her most famous, most impactful science came when she cooked up a thin soup of polymers that could stop bullets in their tracks.

Kwolek’s initial ambition was not to be chemist at all. By my count, it was at least her third ambition. Born about 18 miles outside of Pittsburgh in New Keningston to Polish immigrant parents, she was first interested in fashion design, taking cues from her mother, who worked as a seamstress. She also learned about science from her father, a passionate amateur naturalist. They would walk quietly together in the woods, looking for small, modest works of natural art, like spiderwebs and leaves which she pressed into the pages of a book. As a child, she also wrote poetry.

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When asked, at the end of an interview, how she would live her life over again, if given the chance, Kwolek said “From the very beginning, I would do it again. I might do things somewhat differently, but I would still do it.”