Nitrocellulose is a cottonlike compound derived from plant starch that has been treated with sulfuric and nitric acids and is used in the making of explosives.
Decomposed means broke down.
Spontaneously combust means burst into flames without an outside heat source.
When George Eastman died in 1932, he left his 50-room home in Rochester, New York, to the University of Rochester. But the school found the estate too large to use effectively. So a decade later, when the state of New York decided to create a museum of photography in Eastman’s memory, the spoke to the folks at the museum to understand what goes into their preservation work.
