About Vincent Schaefer
Vincent Joseph Schaefer was an American chemist and meteorologist who developed cloud seeding. On November 13, 1946, while a researcher at the General Electric Research Laboratory, Schaefer modified clouds in the Berkshire Mountains by seeding them with dry ice. While he was self-taught and never completed high school, he was issued 14 patents. During this period Schaefer also created adult education programs on natural history topics which gave him opportunities to speak in the community. Apperson introduced Schaefer to Irving Langmuir, a scientist at the GE Research Laboratory who was awarded a Nobel Prize in 1932 for his work in surface chemistry. When he mounted such pieces on lampshades or other objects, it created a stained-glass window effect from natural rock highlighting the rock's geologic history. As an example of this, in 1940, Schaefer became known in his own right for the development of a method to make replicas of individual snowflakes using a thin plastic coating.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.