Interested in “bugs” since she was a child, a remarkable citizen scientist turns her passion into a career. Nan Songer (white) found pleasure in observing living specimens, an inclination that led to a vast collection of creatures in her home. When a friend informed her that he had used spider’s silk to repair his surveying scope, Nan’s brain lit up. Could she harvest and sell spider silk to make crosshairs in gunsights, periscopes, and more for use in the war? Through trial and error, and with much creativity, Nan discovered that a spider’s dragline, which is cast out when it falls from a height, is optimal; that spiders can be held harmlessly in place with hairpins while their silk is extracted; that a small lightbulb in a popcorn can will illuminate the silk without overheating the spider; that sudden, loud noises can cause spiders to spin a different kind of silk; and that different species, ages, and sexes of spiders spin silk with different characteristics. After testing the silk of more than 50 species, Nan found that the silk of black widows was optimal, and that it could be split or combined with the silk of other spiders, depending on the weight needed. A detailed narrative illuminates the innovation, successes, and challenges behind Nan’s awe-inspiring work.