American Chemist Spencer Silver, Inventor of 'Post-it', Passes Away at 80

Spencer Silver [Photo by AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Byunghee Park] Spencer Silver, the chemist who invented the 'Post-it,' has passed away at the age of 80.

According to the Washington Post on the 14th (local time), 3M announced that Silver died on the 8th at his home in Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA. According to his wife, Linda Silver, Silver suffered from heart disease.

In 1968, Silver was working at 3M on creating a super-strong adhesive but failed while making a glue with weak adhesion. The adhesive Silver created was not as strong as expected, but it had the characteristic of leaving no residue on surfaces and was not sticky. Silver called this chemical product with moderate adhesion a 'solution in search of a problem' as he pondered how to commercialize it.

Silver's colleague, Art Fry, came up with the idea in 1974 to use this adhesive to create paper that could be easily attached and removed, which became the catalyst for the invention of the Post-it.

Fry, a church choir member, used paper bookmarks in his hymn book, but noticed that the bookmarks would fall out whenever he opened the book. This led him to think of using the adhesive Silver had previously created.

Silver and Fry developed the attachable and detachable paper, which was commercialized in 1977 under the name 'Press 'n Peel.' Initially, Press 'n Peel did not achieve much success.

In 1980, 3M renamed the product 'Post-it Notes,' and it subsequently gained worldwide popularity. Silver left 37 patents at 3M before retiring in 1996. In 1998, he received the American Chemical Society Award for Creative Invention.

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