This 19th century French sculptor, whose best bust is in Chicago, shares a surname with a current French scientist whose ditopic molecules may soon banish all worry about punctured tires. From where is the model for the aforementioned bust?

looney_tunes

"A 'supramolecular rubber' has been created by Ludwik Leibler and colleagues at the Ecole Supérieure de Physique et Chimie Industrielles (ESPCI/CNRS) in Paris, France." This ditopic molecule is predicted to lead to self-mending rubber with many uses including, presumably, punctured tires. http://news.icm.ac.uk/manufacturing/self-healing-rubber-invented-by-french-scientists/323/ François Tournilhac, who runs Dr Leibler's laboratories, is sometimes also listed as being responsible for the development. But I cannot find either of these names linked with 19th century French sculpture, so I may be on a totally wrong track. Dec 31 08, 8:00 PM

zbeckabee

Cordier -- The material would be an asset to industry and might even help shed light on the physics of elasticity, say Philippe Cordier and colleagues at the Industrial Physics and Chemistry Higher Educational Institution in Paris. Self-healing rubber band. Charles Henri Joseph Cordier French, 1827-1905 AIC -- Bust of Said Abdullah of the Darfour People, 1848 -- SUDAN. http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/18751 http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/search/citi/category:96?page=4 http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/the-selfhealing-rubber-band/2008/02/21/1203467281049.html http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/cordier_charles_henri_joseph.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darfur Dec 31 08, 10:02 PM

edmund80

Correct! Philippe Cordier is co-researcher (with François Tournilhac) and lead author of this article on the self-healing and thermoreversible rubber. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v451/n7181/abs/nature06669.html http://www.esquire.com/features/best-and-brightest-2008/self-mending-rubber-1208 And Charles Cordier's best bust is in the Art Institute of Chicago. His model for that work was a Sudanese man, as zb mentioned. "Bust of Saïd Abdallah of the Darfour People was Cordier’s first and greatest success. Using as a model a Sudanese man who, the sculptor claimed, simply turned up at his studio, he created a plaster version of Saïd Abdallah for exhibition at the Salon of 1848." http://www.artic.edu/artaccess/AA_Rococo/pages/11cordier.shtml http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/AkcZ1fUyB3RocKLYGFu20Q?select=kcg2sUTGmY5kgQo91CzQYQ Jan 01 09, 2:07 AM