Plato summed it up perfectly when he pointed out that necessity is the mother of invention. Every day, entrepreneurs work diligently to fill gaps in a specific market or create a new product. Some of these entrepreneurial inventors are successful, while others encounter failure after failure.
The amazing product that Patricia Billings invented is one of the successes. Billings, born in 1926 in Clinton, Missouri, studied art at Amarillo College in Texas. Billings specialized in plaster of paris sculptures. During an incident in the late 1970s, she experienced an immense disappointment when a sculpture she was working on shattered after falling over.
Billings subsequently learned that sculptors in the Renaissance period used an additive to increase the longevity of their plaster, which spurred her decision to create a modernized version of this additive. It took her eight longs years of conducting experiments in her basement, but Billings succeeded in creating the additive. When mixed with gypsum and concrete, the additive makes a plaster that is indestructible. She showed it to a friend of hers who happened to be a scientist. Her friend discovered that the new material was heat resistant in addition to being indestructible. Following another eight years of tinkering, Billings introduced Geobond, a virtually indestructible building material. Geobond is non-toxic and fire-proof, making it an excellent and healthy replacement for asbestos. Billings, now a great-grandmother, remains in control of the company and refuses to reveal her secret recipe. She also holds two patents on Geobond.
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