Review of "Trials of an Inventor: Life and Discoveries of Charles Goodyear."

Date Published: October 23, 2024
​Date Modified: December 17, 2024

“The reason I have classified Charles Goodyear as ‘An Inventor, Not An Industrialist’ is because, unlike Thomas Edison he did not push to take his inventions beyond the discovery phase into the production phase. Although his inventions are said to have ‘benefited mankind,’ they would not have if other enterprising souls had not take his ideas and pushed them forward.

“Unfortunately, it appears most of the early ‘industrialists’ that attempted to make useful articles from Goodyear’s India-rubber, failed the character test of having internal integrity and used calumny to attack his good name.
​
“I am finding that such events of calumny in our history are all too common.”

Peter E. Greulich, October 2024

A Review of “Trials of an Inventor: Life and Discoveries of Charles Goodyear”

• Reviews of the Day: 1867 … Onward
•  Selected Quotes and Insights from “Trials of an Inventor”
• This Author’s Thoughts on “Trials of an Inventor”

• Reviews of the Day: 1867 … Onward

The number of press reviews for this book were minimal to say the least. It was not well reviewed in the press after its release. It garnered little attention. Several of the “reviews” below include information from a Scientific American article that paralleled Mr. Goodyear’s life story as covered in this book. The book and the article complemented each other in information and tone, so, as such, both are included here for a more complete picture of the story of Charles Goodyear’s life, beliefs and obstacles.

With that said, here are a few of the “Reviews of the Day.”

“Every American should read the ‘Trials of an Inventor;’ it ought to be placed in the hands of every school boy in the land, as an instance of indomitable courage and perseverance under the most adverse and disheartening circumstances.”

 “Our Book Table,” Commercial Advertiser, February 20, 1867

Charles (Chas) Goodyear

“There are a few lottery prizes in life; most men have to pay for all they get, and inventors are not exceptions to the rule.
​
“The life of Charles Goodyear is one of the most pathetic histories under the sun, and now that the reality and wisdom of his work have redeemed it from the contempt that was long its bitterest ingredient, he appears as one of the most heroic and admirable inventors.”

“Great Inventors,” Kansas Radical, Volume 1, Number 46, May 25, 1867

“We sometimes think of genius as a wayward, sickly faculty; but it is rather that persistent power of the soul which, like faith, ‘laughs at impossibilities,’ and cuts its way through every obstacle. The life of Charles Goodyear illustrates this in an eminent degree. … To discover the secret and solve the problem of rubber became the dream of Charles Goodyear’s life. The difficulties and failures which he encountered only made it more dear to him.

“He was in such extreme poverty that his bed was sold from under him; he was so poor that it was said he could not buy an ounce of tea on credit. In the dead of winter there was no food in his house and no fuel for the fire. … This was the story of years, not a few months. …

“He went from a debtors’ prison to a palace in Paris.”

“Triumphs of Genius,” The Abbeville Press and Banner, July 31, 1868

“Among the inventors who have sacrificed enough for their brain-children to be called ‘martyrs,’ is Charles Goodyear, the man to whom we are indebted for India-rubber. … He sacrificed not only his time and money, for the sake of his project, but all the funds which he could borrow from his friends; his wife’s jewels and family relics speedily found their way to the pawnbrokers. …

“At length his invention was patented, and a wealthy partner joined him; but a commercial crisis soon swept away every cent of their joint capital. … Goodyear had not even enough money to buy food for his family, and the pawnbroker became again his only resource. …

“His children were often sick, hungry and cold, and it is said that he once sold their schoolbooks for five dollars … for gum and sulphur for his experiments. … He died insolvent, leaving his family an inheritance of debt.”

“The Trials of an Inventor,” The Jeffersonian Democrat, March 14, 1888

• ​​Selected Quotes and Insights from “Trials of an Inventor”

-     On the character and lack of recognition for Charles Goodyear

“Probably no man who has made a discovery at once so great, and of such immediate, practical benefit to the human race, ever before passed so quietly out of his place and generation, receiving so slight an acknowledgment for the service he has performed.
​
“The long and bitter litigation conducted … to hinder his obtaining an extension of his patents, prejudiced many persons against one of the most unostentatious, personally economical, pure-minded, and pious men that has adorned his generation by his life and discoveries.”

-     The edges of successes became cliffs of pecuniary failures

​“The trials of this long-suffering and persevering man seemed to be drawing to a close, and an almost unlimited opening for a successful business appeared before him. He removed his family to Staten Island, so that he might once more enjoy the comfort of his own home.

"Trials of an Inventor"

“An unexpected trouble now broke upon him, and swept away all his prospects of success. The memorable and general failure in business occurring at this time—from 1836 to 1837, rendered the new enterprise impossible, and swept away the entire fortune of the gentleman with whom Mr. Goodyear was associated.
​
“This disaster left Mr. Goodyear penniless and took away his only resource for providing bread for his family.”

​​-     The priority was continuous experimentation, even over the price of family security

“All the means secured by this earnest man from the sale of his inventions, instead of being devoted to the present enjoyment of his family, or invested for their future support, were immediately given to the one great mission of his life, the development and application of this peculiar natural product. …

“A witness in one of the trials that took place in defense of his patents, testified that in the year 1839 he found them ‘extremely destitute. They had sickness in the family. I was often in, and found them very poor, very destitute both for food and fuel. I knew they had to go into the fields and woods to glean fuel as they had none. They had nothing to buy anything with. …

‘They told me they had no money to buy their bread with from one day to another. They did not know how they should get it. The children said they did not know what they should do for food. They dug their potatoes before they were half grown, for the sake of having something to eat. …
​
‘At one time they had nothing to eat … a barrel of flour unexpectedly arrived.’ ”

​​-     Charles Goodyear was an inventor, not an industrialist—or businessman

“He was not a shrewd businessman in the common usage of the word, and was too intent upon the great work of developing his discovery, to secure for himself and his family all the benefits that might come from a prudent management of his patents. …

“We may call it a weakness in his character. We may even say he ought to have first secured enough to have relieved his creditors, and to have provided a competence for his dependent family in the event of his death, … but this was simply impossible for Mr. Goodyear. …
​
“He seemed to be oblivious to everything besides this great appointed work—developing his discoveries, which was set before him. … true economy for him was to develop his invention to the utmost of his ability.”

• ​This Author’s Thoughts on “Trials of an Inventor”

I would have to disagree with the first review shown above concerning this book. This is absolutely not a book that I would “place in the hands of every school boy in the land, as an instance of indomitable courage and perseverance under the most adverse and disheartening of circumstances.”

Rather, as I read the book I often thought of my own experience as a single father with three children and my first priority in life was providing for them, ensuring they had a roof over their heads, a warm place to sleep and food on the table at dinner time. Work meant little if it didn’t provide the basic necessities for my family first and foremost.

Because of this, I had a hard time relating to Mr. Goodyear. His philosophy was that God was putting “tests” in front of him that he had to overcome—as far as his inventions were concerned, and that he was the only one who could accomplish the tasks, which is rather egotistical—and inefficient, to me. It is a belief in God that I understand others hold close to themselves, but I do not accept such a god in my own life. Mr. Goodyear also believed that he had to finish his inventions before “God took him from this earth.” I do not accept God as the “origin of death” but the “origin and maintainer of life.” With the right priorities in life, God gives us the time we need to accomplish our tasks.

So my question would be, if he had provided for his family, established their stability, and then went about his inventive work could he have accomplished the same feats? He appeared driven by a constant fear that he would die—God would call him from this life, before he could complete his inventive tasks. The book constantly shows how this “stress” was shortening his life.

​It was like reading the book of Job where Job cries:

“For the thing which I greatly feared has come upon me. That which I was afraid of has come unto me.

“I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet.
​
“Yet trouble came.”

It appears Goodyear’s fear of dying before completing his invention was an underlying cause of stress and illnesses. Why couldn’t he believe that God expected him to care for his wife and children first—enjoy their presence, and, as such, God would ensure he would live as long as necessary to complete his invention—or have the “accident” that moved his process forward happen earlier in life, or even moved forward through the caring hands of another individual—he needn’t have worked alone?

Because I look at life differently, it was hard for me to see some of the positive character traits that the author presented in this book. Where the author of this book saw strong character traits, I perceived egotism, lack of priorities in life, and an inability to judge the character of his business associates who so often cheated him of what he was due.

Charles Goodyear's Exhibition of India-rubber
at the ​Crystal Palace, Sydenham, England.

Although his inventions did provide great benefits to mankind, the life of Charles Goodyear who produced this marvel is not an example of an individual we should put in front of “every school boy in the land.” He was an inventor of the nature of Edison—trial and error were his way forward, but unlike Edison he never learned how to be an industrialist—put his invention into profitable practice for the benefit of mankind.

Just as the world needs inventors, it needs industrialists that put those inventions into profitable production. Otherwise, an invention is just a patent—a collection of charts, graphs, pictures, or ideas—like a piece of rubber—without practical usage in the world. In the case of Edison, the qualities of an inventor and an industrialist were in one individual.

Of course, these thoughts on Charles Goodyear are the result of reading one book, a single individual’s account of the entire lifetime of the man. Although I am not inspired today to get further information on Mr. Goodyear or perform a second reading of this book, maybe at some point in the future, I will be so inspired to find more details that challenge or support my viewpoint as expressed here.

Cheers,
​
- Peter E.

Return to the Inventors' and Innovators' Home Page