Marvin Pipkin’s Impossible Bulb Task

In 1919, General Electric gave new recruit and young chemist Marvin Pipkin the “impossible” task of making a light bulb with a frosted inner surface. Managers had used the problem as an induction ritual for new researchers because earlier attempts made the glass too brittle to handle. Pipkin did not know the task had already defeated others, and while experimenting with acids and cleaning solution, he accidentally found a way to frost the bulb without making it shatter.

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