Wendell Weeks, the small-town boss at the big-tech table

In his office in upstate New York, Wendell Weeks is about to do an ad hoc product demonstration. He brandishes something he calls a Norwegian hammer, a device used to test how resistant materials are to hard knocks. Mr Weeks first experiments on a thin sheet of metal; the hammer leaves a visible dent. Then he places the hammer over a small sample of glass; its percussive impact leaves no trace.