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One of the best kept secrets of chemistry was discovered by a reclusive scientist, William Wooleston He started as a medical doctor, but took up the study of applied science. Platinum had been known since ancient times, but it was figured that it was impossible to work with to make useful objects.
Locking himself into his laboratory, Woolston poured all his efforts into developing palladium. A new metal that’s controversial in the scientific realm. His colleagues label him a fraud, but Woolston ignores him behind his locked doors, and invents more alloys of platinum, even a method of making the strange metal malleable to make things with it. .
He never revealed his secret until after his death, but today his secrets are widely known. Platinum and its alloys are used in many common electronic devices we use every day. His other inventions and work include etching on glass with diamonds, small batteries you can carry in your pocket, lenses, prisms, and more.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Hyde_Wollaston