By Mary Bellis

On February 28, 1893, Edward Goodrich Acheson (1856–1931) patented a method for making an industrial abrasive he called "Carborundum" or silicon carbide. On May 19, 1896, Edward Goodrich Acheson was also issued a patent for an electrical furnace used to produce carborundum. The United States Patent Office named carborundum as one of the 22 patents most responsible for the industrial age (1926). According to the National Inventors Hall of Fame, "without carborundum, the mass production manufacturing of precision-ground, interchangeable metal parts would be practically impossible."

Acheson went on to discover that when carborundum was heated to a high temperature it produced an almost pure and perfected form of graphite that could be used as a lubricant. He patented his graphite-making process in 1896.

During his lifetime, Edward Goodrich Acheson was granted 70 patents for industrial abrasives, several graphite products, processes for the reduction of oxides, and refractories.

Earlier in Acheson's career, the inventor had worked for Thomas A. Edison. In 1880, Acheson helped in the development of the incandescent lamp at Edison's laboratories at Menlo Park, N.J.

Chemical Achievers - Edward Goodrich Acheson and Carborundum
Edward Goodrich Acheson was raised in the coal fields of southwestern Pennsylvania.

Edward Goodrich Acheson
Edward Goodrich Acheson was granted 70 patents on devices, techniques, and compositions of matter in the fields of mechanics, electricity, electrochemistry, and colloid chemistry.

Edward Goodrich Acheson
Edward Goodrich Acheson invented Carborundum, the hardest man-made surface needed to bring about the industrial age.

Edward Goodrich Acheson
Edward Goodrich Acheson was American inventor who discovered the abrasive Carborundum and perfected a method for making graphite. Acheson was key in successfully establishing at least five industrial corporations dependent on electrothermal processes.