Nylon and Bombs: DuPont and the March of Modern America

Conclusion

Conclusion In฀the฀space฀of฀a฀half-century,฀DuPont’s฀chemical฀engineers฀as฀a฀professional฀ group฀achieved฀an฀enviable฀position.฀Associating฀the฀invention฀and฀assertion฀ of฀a฀new฀scientific฀field฀with฀the฀diversification฀of฀this฀company,฀they฀also฀bene fited฀from฀the฀parallel฀rise฀of฀the฀consumer฀society฀and฀the฀military-industrial฀ complex.฀To฀this฀extent,฀their฀success฀is฀comparable฀to฀that฀of฀other฀professionals ,฀such฀as฀electrical฀engineers,฀physicians,฀or฀lawyers,฀but฀what฀does฀seem฀ unusual฀is฀the฀fact฀that฀this฀field฀practically฀did฀not฀exist฀at฀all฀around฀1900. ฀ Chemical฀engineers฀have฀been฀the฀anonymous฀and฀hard-working฀children฀ of฀the฀American฀century.฀Certainly,฀no฀one฀has฀found฀among฀them฀one฀of฀ those฀memorable฀or฀simply฀attractive฀characters฀whom฀historians฀so฀love฀to฀ portray.฀In฀The฀Periodic฀Table,฀Primo฀Levi฀confides฀to฀Cerrato,฀one฀of฀his฀former ฀classmates฀at฀the฀Technical฀Institute฀of฀Turin,฀that฀he฀finds฀it฀unfair฀“that฀ the฀world฀knows฀all฀about฀the฀way฀of฀life฀of฀the฀physician,฀the฀prostitute,฀the฀ sailor,฀the฀assassin,฀the฀countess,฀the฀ancient฀Roman,฀the฀conspirator,฀and฀the฀ Polynesian,฀and฀nothing฀of฀how฀we฀live—we฀who฀transmute฀matter.”1฀It฀is฀true฀ that฀in฀the฀twentieth฀century,฀the฀chemists’฀star฀has฀faded,฀outshone฀by฀that฀of฀ the฀physicists,฀and฀that฀chemists฀sometimes฀look฀like฀laboratory฀assistants฀to฀ ฀ ฀ ฀ ฀ Nylon฀and฀Bombs the฀physicists.฀But฀this฀book฀did฀not฀set฀out฀to฀do฀justice฀to฀a฀group฀that฀history฀ had฀forgotten,฀and฀even฀less฀to฀write฀about฀a฀profession฀simply฀because฀this฀ had฀not฀been฀done—which฀is฀a฀rather฀lazy฀way฀to฀justify฀historical฀work. ฀ What฀really฀matters฀is฀not฀the฀historical฀legacy฀of฀the฀chemical฀engineers.฀ Instead,฀it฀has฀been฀my฀purpose฀to฀trace฀their฀itinerary฀in฀order฀to฀show฀how฀ they฀were฀able฀to฀make฀use฀of฀the฀parallel฀rise฀of฀mass฀consumption฀and฀the฀ federal฀ government’s฀ power฀ of฀ intervention฀ to฀ further฀ their฀ careers฀ and฀ to฀ fashion฀a฀new฀version฀of฀American฀modernity:฀sophisticated฀products฀for฀the฀ mass฀market฀to฀ensure฀the฀prosperity฀and฀the฀security฀of฀the฀country฀in฀a฀political ฀context฀that฀had฀temporarily฀set฀aside฀the฀great฀ideological฀debates฀of฀ ฀ the฀past. ฀ What฀were฀the฀principal฀milestones฀of฀their฀itinerary?฀The฀first฀important฀ stage฀was฀the฀invention฀of฀unit฀operations฀at฀MIT,฀for฀it฀provided฀this฀field฀ with฀a฀conceptual฀unity฀by฀reflecting฀and฀reinforcing฀a฀new฀paradigm฀of฀cooperation ฀between฀the฀academic฀and฀the฀industrial฀communities.฀This฀was฀not฀ self-evident—the฀interests฀of฀the฀two฀parties฀did฀not฀necessarily฀coincide—but฀ they฀developed฀procedures฀for฀negotiation,฀so฀that฀by฀the฀1920s,฀a฀model฀for฀ producing฀specialized฀knowledge,฀products,฀and฀services฀was฀fairly฀well฀established ฀in฀the฀American฀chemical฀industry.฀Some฀of฀its฀most฀active฀proponents฀ were฀young฀engineers,฀who฀favored฀formal฀mathematical฀procedures฀that฀made฀ it฀possible฀to฀solve฀complex฀heat-related฀problems฀in฀high-pressure฀chemistry฀ and฀also฀reinforced฀the฀identity฀that฀set฀these฀engineers฀apart฀from฀the฀grizzled฀ veterans฀of฀the฀powder฀and฀explosives฀plants.฀Working฀on฀the฀development฀of฀ ammonia฀and฀especially฀nylon฀afforded฀them฀the฀opportunity฀to฀demonstrate฀ their฀know-how฀in฀close฀cooperation฀with฀the฀company’s฀chemists.฀And฀lastly฀ there฀was฀the฀plutonium฀venture฀and฀the฀marriage฀of฀chemical฀engineering฀ and฀nuclear฀physics,฀which฀gave฀the฀engineers฀their฀patents฀of฀political฀nobility ฀by฀placing฀them฀in฀strategic฀positions฀in฀the฀military-industrial฀complex.฀ Meanwhile,฀their฀younger฀colleagues,฀recent฀graduates฀of฀colleges฀and฀universities ,฀followed฀in฀their฀footsteps฀when฀great฀numbers฀of฀them฀took฀positions฀ in฀a฀rapidly฀expanding฀industry.฀Career฀choices฀and฀technical฀directions฀depended ,฀to฀be฀sure,฀on฀opportunities฀encountered฀in฀a฀context฀of฀constraints฀ and฀obstacles,฀but฀these฀engineers฀were฀highly฀determined฀and฀knew฀how฀to฀ evaluate฀and฀exploit฀their฀possibilities฀within฀the฀framework฀of฀two฀major฀con- figurations. ฀ Until฀World฀War฀II,฀the฀socioprofessional฀field฀in฀which฀they฀operated฀was฀ that฀of฀a฀company฀with฀a฀clearly฀marked฀identity,฀where฀the฀engineers฀made฀ their฀way฀in฀a฀relational฀system฀codified฀by฀the฀internal฀rules฀of฀the฀firm,฀and฀ where฀career฀moves฀were฀relatively฀easy฀to฀understand.฀Then฀the฀field฀widened฀ to฀the฀point฀where฀it฀included฀the฀government,฀and฀this฀made฀for฀a฀much฀more฀ complex฀relational฀system฀and฀a฀multiplicity฀of฀new฀constraints฀and฀pitfalls.฀ That฀is฀why฀I฀refer฀to฀this฀last฀configuration฀as฀political.฀The฀traits฀needed฀here฀ were฀no฀longer฀those฀of฀the฀past,฀for฀in฀addition฀to฀technical฀competence...