Those raised reflective dots in the middle of the road: who made them and how.

A Dotty Idea You may have run over Elbert Dysart Botts's invention today. Never heard of him you say? Well, he's the guy who developed Botts Dots, the raised reflective markers seen in the middle of roads and freeways throughout America. Botts earned his Doctorate in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin and taught for 16 years at San Jose University. When WWII broke out, he went to work for the government as a chemist. Then …

…from CalTrans in 1960 and died two years later at age 69. Even though he never got to see his invention installed on warm-weather roads all over the country (he died three years before the first Botts Dots were installed in Northern California in 1963), I hope he knows that from now on, every time we hear that "thump-thump-thump" under our car tires, we will be thanking him for keeping us awake and out of everybody else's lane.