Norman Bernard Larsen (1923—1970) was an American industrial

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe t ...

Biography

He was born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. Larsen is sometimes credited with inventing the

WD-40 WD-40 is an American brand and the trademark of a penetrating oil manufactured by the WD-40 Company based in San Diego, California. The formula for WD-40 was invented for the Rocket Chemical Company as early as 1953 before it evolved into ...

formula in 1953 but this is not certain. The WD-40 company website and other books and newspapers credit him but according to Iris Engstrand, a historian of San Diego and California at the University of San Diego, it was actually Iver Norman Lawson (also an engineer born in Chicago at around the same time as Norm Larsen), and the names became confused over time. The formula was kept as a

trade secret Trade secrets are a type of intellectual property that includes formulas, practices, processes, designs, instruments, patterns, or compilations of information that have inherent economic value because they are not generally known or readily ...

, so no patent was ever filed listing inventors. Larsen left the Rocket Chemical Company (the original producers of WD-40) in 1958 after a verbal agreement between Rocket and a distributor fell apart; the distributor set up

CRC Industries CRC Industries is a manufacturer and distributor of industrial chemicals for maintenance and repair of marine, electrical, industrial, automotive and aviation equipment. History It was founded in 1958 after a verbal agreement between Rocket Ch ...

in Philadelphia to directly compete with Rocket and Larsen left to lead it. CRC was originally called Corrosion Reaction Consultants, Inc. Its first product was called CRC Corrosion Inhibitor, also called 5–56. By 1968 Larsen had left CRC and had founded a company called Surcon, Inc. headquartered in Collegeville, PA, which also had developed a chemical anti-corrosion formula eventually called "Free 'n Kleen"; the company used it to remove corrosion from the wreck of a Spanish galleon found off the Florida coast. By 1970 the product was being used by Sikorsky Aircraft Corp in its helicopters and was also used by the military to keep machine guns working. Larsen died in December 1970 at home at the age of 47, of an apparent heart attack.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Larsen, Norm 1923 births 1970 deaths 20th-century American chemists Scientists from Chicago American people of Norwegian descent 20th-century American inventors