Sara Little Turnbull was a force in the world of material science and industrial design. It is safe to say that most people use something that starts life on the drawing board, but very few know their name. He worked as a 3M consultant with engineer fabrics.
As part of these efforts, he designed a molded bra that inspired the form of the N95 mask. Later, 3M objected to his role in coming with the N95 mask. He also worked as consultants for Clear-Gam Ocak Development, Early Microwave Cooking products, storage systems and many other products for Corningware.
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Section transcript
Katie Hafner: I’m Katie Hafner, and this Lost Science Women: A series of mini -section that includes women in women from our listeners.
In today’s episode, we inform the designer Paula Rees about his mentor Sara Little Turnbull. You may not know Sara’s name, but I bet you can hear one of your inventions. Plus… In the process of reporting this section, we discovered that Sara’s story illuminated a problem we encountered while looking at the history of science…
Producer Johanna Mayer brings us the story.
Johanna Mayer: I want to tell you about this Photograph I have recently met.
It seems to have been taken in the 1950s or 1960s. Four businessmen stand in a circle. Two of the men smoke long, third in a fine striped suit. And they’re all looking down.
They’re looking at a woman. With a killer beehive hairstyle, a giant flower fixed to the sweater and a large beam grin.
Paula Rees: & Hairsp; Sara Little was Turnbull and was small.
Johanna Mayer: Sara was about 4’11 ” – Sara Finekstein was born, but everyone called her“ Little Sara ve and made her name himself. Sara began to go professionally with her name… Sara Littlele.
I’m Johanna Mayer and this is from our box, which has a series from Lost Women of Science. Today, we’re talking about Sara Little Turnbull and the big inheritance it has left behind-from the sneakers from the pot covers, most of us Covid-19 pandemic kick: When the N95 mask is very familiar with a product we are very familiar with.
Paula Rees wrote us about Sara – Paula was the director of an interdisciplinary design company and Sara was his mentor.
Paula Rees: I’ve known Sara for 30 years. Today I can guarantee that something in your life is designed or inspired by Sara Little.
Johanna Mayer: Sara grew up in Brooklyn in a Russian immigrant family in the 1920s. They were poor, but Sara managed to find beauty and elegant design in unexpected places such as skillful vegetables in the grocery store. As a teenager, he won a scholarship to Parsons Design School, where he reads advertising design. And after graduation, The house is beautifulA popular interior decoration magazine. In the magazine, he introduced ideas that would make us more thoughtful about our way of using gaps and consuming materials. For example, he wrote articles about the benefits of living with a roommate and arrangement of small spaces.
Paula Rees: He was going to apply what he was preaching because he lived a very simple life with less, but better quality to last longer.
Johanna Mayer: Sara lived in a 400 square meter apartment. He had very few clothes, but he said they made it specially to fit perfectly.
Paula Rees: He really hated the planned and financial resources planned. His belief was that we serve as the conscience of the companies that hired us. We have to do the right things.
Johanna Mayer: This was Sara’s guide philosophy – to do the right thing. And in 1958 he decided to bring his ideas to companies and founded his own design consultancy business. And with this career splashes, Sara Little Turnbull has become a key fixture in the world of practical science and industrial design.
Paula Rees: Sara was an absolute center of power and wasn’t shy to ask what he needed.
Johanna Mayer: Basically, he was a kind of woman who could hold herself in a circle of businessmen. Large companies began to attract attention. Among them – 3m is a giant company that produces everything from masking band to sanding paper, a synthetic rubber used in space boots. In 1958 they hired Sara. The gift worked in the Wrap & Fabric section, but he wasn’t there to wrap gifts. He was working with 3M: a moldable, non -touching technology.
Paula Rees: His genius was in material science.
Johanna Mayer: Although Sara did not have a material science diploma, she worked with all kinds of materials made of fibers that were mainly together, which left these small small gaps among the yarns. And when he sees this new high -tech fabric made of polymers molten Together – so eliminating these small gaps – he knew that it was full of potential.
Paula Rees: He clearly understood the science behind the things he dreamed of and the things he wanted to design. And always ‘why?’ Started with the question.
Johanna Mayer: In fact, when the senior management asked Sara to make a presentation, he said: “Why?” In the presentation, Sara entered this non -woven technology and many potential use. It revealed 100 original product ideas, including someone who has echoed worldwide: moldable bra cup. Instead of an extremely hard and disturbing shape, the moldable cup sits firmly on the chest and with less sewing line!
However, according to Paula, this moldable bra will open the path of another invention-with another impact …
Paula Rees: Sara was more ahead of understanding what would happen. It was much more effective and successful than people knew.
Johanna Mayer: While working with 3M, Sara was also interested in three patient family members. Both his family and his sister were dying at the same time, which meant that Sara had spent too much Time in hospitals. And he began to notice the masks that doctors wear – a piece of flat fabric with a tie in the back.
Perhaps it was the boredom of long hours spent in hospital rooms; Perhaps it was a race brain that could not be domesticated; Perhaps it was a project designed to remove himself from his intense grief – we cannot say for sure. But Sara had an idea. What if he can take the moldable bra that he designed and turn it into a better medical mask?
Johanna Mayer: He produced a 3m mask in 1972… And it looked like a moldable bra cup! 3M would change the mask in the next few years, but Sara’s vision-product-reality became a real life problem.
When Covid Pandemi was shot in 2020, he published numerous stories about Sara’s contribution to the mask, and emphasized this amazing woman and her work. Apparently, after decades, Sara was finally recognized for a long delay for life -saving invention.
But here the story becomes complicated: 3M disputes in which Sara invented the mask.
We reached 3M to ask this story. And according to a spokesman, the company was working on a design for a cup-shaped mask made of non-woven materials at an early date such as-1957, such as Sara, Sara. And in 1959, two scientists on 3m applied for a patent containing porous -breathing facial masks used by surgeons, doctors, dentists, nurses and dusty or contaminated atmosphere ”.
In 2022, a spokesman from the company said Toronto star Before Sara arrives, there are notes that show that the idea is already shaken.
However Paula He says that Sara’s loan is missing where the loan is due, and that 3M hides its role in the development of the mask.
The story of the Sara and N-95 mask shows a subject that we encounter very much in the history of science.
Often, a lonely genius has a romantic appearance of a fresh invention with a breakthrough and suddenly creates a fresh invention from thin air. This is known as the “great human theory – – the idea that extraordinary minds and leaders are born, did not make and scientific progress is slow and stable by the exceptional men. In fact, this kind of “aha!” Moments are rare.
More often, the invention process is much less dramatic – the source is almost boring. Corrugated. And most importantly, usually all teams People who will thank for the breakthroughs. However, the “Great Human Theory” language rolled much more easily than “hardworking and collaborative team effort theory”.
So, regardless of the reality behind the invention of the N95 mask, Sara’s story shows us… Science is sometimes scattered! Disputes on ideas are on the loan… They are all equal for the course.
But regardless of the contribution of Sara Little Turnbull to N95, the mask was just a footnote in his long career.
Paula Rees: His work was very diverse. For example, he was interested in developing new foodstuffs such as soy -based alternatives. Open glass was effective in the development of stove. It was in the team working in the early microwave. And he liked the storage system. Very, very organized. And so he developed many products around the storage.
Johanna Mayer: After a career for more than 70 years, Sara died in 2015 at the age of 97. Paula Rees was part of a group of friends overlooking Sara in her old age.
I wonder how many women like him are in the center of the male group by returning to that photo I described before.
Paula Rees: In the middle of the 18th century, I began to believe that it was too smart to be fully accepted by crazy men. While doing this research, I connected with other women who found the same. And yes, annoying.
Sara’s heritage and mission was to help to understand the design of the people and to realize that we had the ability to do something through great scientific discoveries and technology. But we also have to do something just because we can do it.
Katie Hafner: Thanks to Paula Rees for writing us about Sara Little Turnbull. Lost Women of Science: This part of our incoming box was produced by Johanna Mayer and designed by Hans HSU. Real control by Lexi Atiya. Our executive producers Amy Scharf and Me, Katie Hafner. Lizzy composes our intensive music. We receive our finance from Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and Anne Wojcicki Foundation. Prx distributes us and our broadcast partner is Scientific American.
Here in Lost Women of Science, we aim to save female scientists from the jaws of uncertainty, but we need your help! If you know a female scientist who has lost history, let us know! You can go to our website to send us an e -mail, we are LostWomenofscience.org. You will also find the phone number on our tip line. We like to call the tip line.
Thanks for listening!
Department Guests
Paula Rees
Homeowner
Johanna Mayer
Producer
Johanna Mayer
More Reading:
Abdelfatah, Rund and Ramtin Arablouei. “How did a woman inspire the design for the N95 mask.”NPRNPR, May 21, 2020, Rees, Paula and Larry Eisenbach.
“Ask why.”Design museumApril 6, 2020.
“About Sara Little Turnbull.” Design Institute Center.
Corbett, Kelly. Real Story: An old House Beautiful Editor inspired the N95 mask..
