Aerogel was first created by Samuel Stephens Kistler - it is not well documented whether he began his experiments when he was a student at College of the Pacific or when he was working on his PhD at Stanford University. Either way, it was in California!

There are many different metrics of strength, but a common definition is the "yield strength," or the pressure needed to plastically deform the material. The most common type of aerogel is a silica aerogel, and the yield strength of silica aerogel is 23 Megapascals. This is not much compared to structural steel (Yield strength of about 250 Megapascals), but if you compared the strength to the density of the material it is a lot more impressive!

The density of silica aerogel nanofoam is 1-2 kg per m³, while the density of structural steel is 7,800 kg per m³!! One of the most important properties of aerogels is that they have a very low thermal conductivity, so they make incredibly effective insulation. Many of them also allow light to pass through, so they can be used to add insulation to skylights. Aerogels are also quite absorbent, so they can be used to clean up chemical spills, or even in drug delivery systems.