1926, Rand was a freshman at Harvard University, 17 years old. One night, he was walking on a busy Broadway, and the headlights that passed in front of him stung his eyes. He suddenly had a brainwave: Is there any way to make the headlights illuminate the road ahead without irritating the eyes of pedestrians? He thinks this is a subject of great practical value. Rand did as he said, and dropped out of school the next day to concentrate on inventing polarized light.

1928, rand's first polarizer was finally made. He hurried to apply for a patent, only to find that four people had already applied. His first hard-earned achievement was in vain. Three years later, the improved polarizer was successfully developed, and the patent office finally gave Rand the patent right of polarizer 1934, which was his first patent.

1937, Rand Company established Polaroid Company. He was introduced to some big bosses on Wall Street. They appreciated Rand's talent and work efficiency very much, and provided him with a credit fund of $375,000, hoping that he would apply polarizers to the headlights of all cars in the United States to reduce car accidents and ensure the safety of passengers.

1939, the stereoscopic film released by Polaroid Company at the new york World Expo was even more sensational. Audiences have to wear glasses made by the company to enter the venue, which makes a lot of money for the company.

Once, Rand took pictures of his daughter. The little girl asked impatiently, "Dad, when can I see the photos?" This sentence touched Rand. After years of research, he finally invented the instantaneous imaging camera and named it "Polaroid camera". This kind of camera can develop photos in 60 seconds, so it is also called "60-second camera".

When Polaroid Company 1937 was established, its sales amount was142,000 USD; 194 1 year reached $65,438 +0.5 million, which was 10 years ago. After Polaroid cameras were put into the market, the company's sales soared from 10.5 million US dollars in 1948 to 675 million US dollars in 1958, with a 40-fold increase in10.

However, Rand did not stop there. Later, he made a new camera, which was very cheap and could take color photos immediately. Rand said: "An enterprise should not only constantly introduce new products to improve people's lives and bring convenience to people, but also consider what to do next. In this way, the enterprise will not stagnate and will always be full of vitality. " When people asked Rand what was the secret of his success, he just smiled and said, "I believe in human creativity, and its potential is infinite. As long as you dig it out, nothing can be done. "

Wei Gena

More than 60 years ago, a biologist named Michelson found that there was an earthworm on the east coast of the United States and the west coast of Europe at the same latitude, but there was no earthworm on the west coast of the United States. Why is this? This problem attracted the attention of Wei Gena, a German geologist who was studying the origin of continents and coasts at that time. Wei Gena thought that small earthworms with limited activities could not cross the Atlantic Ocean. Its distribution just shows that the European continent and the American continent are connected by primary minerals and then split into two continents. He took the geographical distribution of earthworms as an example and wrote it into his masterpiece The Origin of the Mainland and the Ocean.