Nylon and Bombs: DuPont and the March of Modern America

Notes

Notes Abbreviations฀and฀Acronyms Acc.฀ accession฀number AIChE฀ American฀Institute฀of฀Chemical฀Engineers HML฀ Hagley฀Museum฀and฀Library,฀Wilmington,฀Delaware PSDP฀ Pierre฀S.฀du฀Pont RG฀ record฀group,฀National฀Archives Introduction ฀ 1.฀ Frederick฀Lewis฀Allen,฀The฀Big฀Change:฀America฀Transforms฀Itself,฀1900–1950฀(New฀ York:฀Harper,฀1952),฀220. ฀ 2.฀ E.฀I.฀du฀Pont฀de฀Nemours฀and฀Company฀is฀referred฀to฀for฀the฀most฀part฀in฀this฀ book฀simply฀as฀“DuPont,”฀the฀shorthand฀form฀now฀used฀by฀the฀firm฀itself.฀The฀family,฀ however,฀writes฀its฀name฀“du฀Pont.” ฀ 3.฀ Jacqueline฀Rémy,฀L’Express,฀20฀November฀1987.  : ฀ DuPont฀and฀the฀Rise฀of฀Chemical฀Engineering ฀ 1.฀ Martha฀Moore฀Trescott,฀The฀Rise฀of฀the฀American฀Electrochemicals฀Industry,฀1880– 1910:฀Studies฀in฀the฀American฀Technological฀Environment฀(Westport,฀Conn.:฀Greenwood฀ Press,฀1981). ฀ 2.฀ Charles฀ Reese,฀“Does฀ Chemical฀ Engineering฀ Pay?”฀ (address฀ to฀ the฀ American฀ Institute฀of฀Chemical฀Engineers฀and฀the฀Chamber฀of฀Commerce฀of฀Providence,฀R.I.,฀ 24฀June฀1925),฀Hagley฀Museum฀and฀Library,฀Wilmington,฀Delaware฀(hereafter฀cited฀as฀ HML),฀Acc.฀1706. ฀ 3.฀ This฀ information฀ on฀ the฀American฀ chemical฀ industry฀ is฀ taken฀ from฀William฀ Haynes,฀ American฀ Chemical฀ Industry:฀A฀ History฀ (6฀ vols.;฀ New฀York:฀Van฀ Nostrand,฀ 1945–54);฀Ludwig฀F.฀Haber,฀The฀Chemical฀Industry,฀1900–1930:฀International฀Growth฀ and฀Technological฀Change฀(Oxford:฀Clarendon฀Press,฀1971);฀Bernardette฀Bensude-Vincent ฀and฀Isabelle฀Stengers,฀Histoire฀de฀la฀chimie฀(Paris:฀La฀Découverte,฀1993);฀and฀Fred฀ Aftalion,฀Histoire฀de฀la฀chimie฀(Paris:฀Masson,฀1988). ฀ 4.฀ Kathryn฀Steen,฀“The฀German฀Chemical฀U-Boat,”฀News฀from฀the฀Beckman฀Center,฀ Summer฀1993,฀6–7. ฀ 5.฀ See฀Thomas฀P.฀Hughes,฀American฀Genesis:฀A฀Century฀of฀Invention฀and฀Technological ฀Enthusiasm,฀1870–1970฀(New฀York:฀Viking,฀1989),฀chap.฀4. ฀ 6.฀ Alfred฀D.฀Chandler฀Jr.,฀The฀Visible฀Hand:฀The฀Managerial฀Revolution฀in฀American฀ Business฀(Cambridge,฀Mass.:฀Belknap฀Press฀of฀Harvard฀University฀Press,฀1977),฀472–74. ฀ 7.฀ Pierre฀Samuel฀du฀Pont,฀the฀father฀of฀Eleuthère฀Irénée,฀was฀elected฀delegate฀to฀ the฀French฀Constituent฀Assembly฀in฀1789,฀representing฀the฀town฀of฀Nemours.฀To฀distinguish ฀himself฀from฀another฀Dupont,฀Jacques-Charles฀Dupont฀de฀l’Eure,฀he฀called฀ himself฀du฀Pont฀de฀Nemours.฀A฀moderate฀reformer฀and฀supporter฀of฀a฀constitutional฀ monarchy,฀he฀only฀escaped฀the฀guillotine฀because฀of฀Robespierre’s฀fall.฀Elected฀to฀the฀ Council฀of฀Seniors฀in฀October฀1795,฀he฀was฀thrown฀into฀prison฀again฀after฀Napoleon฀ Bonaparte’s฀coup฀d’état฀on฀9฀November฀1799฀(known฀in฀French฀history฀as฀18฀Brumaire).฀ Realizing฀that฀he฀had฀no฀chance฀of฀a฀political฀career฀in฀France,฀Pierre฀left฀for฀America฀ that฀year,฀along฀with฀his฀son฀Eleuthère฀Irénée,฀who฀had฀worked฀with฀the฀great฀chemist฀ Antoine฀Lavoisier,฀one฀of฀the฀directors฀of฀the฀Royal฀Administration฀of฀Powders฀and฀ Saltpeters,฀in฀homage฀to฀whom฀E.฀I.฀du฀Pont฀de฀Nemours฀and฀Company฀was฀almost฀ called฀“Lavoisier฀Mills.” ฀ 8.฀ See฀William฀S.฀Dutton,฀Du฀Pont:฀One฀Hundred฀and฀Forty฀Years฀(New฀York:฀Scribner ,฀1942),฀and฀id.,฀Du฀Pont:฀The฀Autobiography฀of฀a฀Scientific฀Enterprise฀(New฀York:฀ Scribner,฀1952). ฀ 9.฀ The฀manner฀in฀which฀the฀du฀Pont฀cousins฀recovered฀the฀firm฀is฀analyzed฀in฀ detail฀by฀Alfred฀D.฀Chandler฀Jr.฀in฀Strategy฀and฀Structure:฀Chapters฀in฀the฀History฀of฀the฀ American฀Industrial฀Enterprise฀(Cambridge,฀Mass.:฀MIT฀Press,฀1962). ฀ 10.฀ Chandler,฀Visible฀Hand,฀487. ฀ 11.฀ David฀A.฀Hounshell฀and฀John฀Kenly฀Smith฀Jr.,฀Science฀and฀Corporate฀Strategy:฀ Du฀Pont฀R&D,฀1902–1980฀(New฀York:฀Cambridge฀University฀Press,฀1988),฀19–26. ฀ 12.฀ See฀Mary-Jo฀Nye,฀“Philosophies฀of฀Chemistry฀Since฀the฀Eighteenth฀Century,”฀in฀ Seymour฀Mauskopf,฀ed.,฀Chemical฀Sciences฀in฀the฀Modern฀World฀(Philadelphia:฀University ฀of฀Pennsylvania฀Press,฀1993),฀3–24. ฀ 13.฀ On฀ chemical฀ engineering฀ in฀ general,฀ the฀ two฀ essential฀ works฀ are฀William฀ F.฀ Furter,฀ed.,฀A฀Century฀of฀Chemical฀Engineering฀(New฀York:฀Plenum฀Press,฀1982),฀and฀id.,฀ ed.,฀History฀of฀Chemical฀Engineering฀(Washington,฀D.C.:฀American฀Chemical฀Society,฀ 1980). ฀ 14.฀ John฀B.฀Rae,฀“Engineers฀Are฀People,”฀Technology฀and฀Culture฀16,฀3฀(June฀1975). ฀ 15.฀ Paul฀Starr,฀The฀Social฀Transformation฀of฀American฀Medicine฀(New฀York:฀Basic฀ Books,฀1982). ฀ 16.฀ Terry฀S.฀Reynolds,฀ed.,฀The฀Engineer฀in฀America:฀A฀Historical฀Anthology฀from฀ Technology฀and฀Culture฀(Chicago:฀University฀of฀Chicago฀Press,฀1991),฀15. ฀ 17.฀ See฀Bruce฀Sinclair,฀“At฀the฀Turn฀of฀a฀Screw:฀William฀Sellers,฀the฀Franklin฀Institute,฀ and฀a฀Standard฀American฀Thread,”฀in฀Reynolds,฀ed.,฀Engineer฀in฀America,฀151–65;฀and฀ see฀also฀Robert฀Kanigel,฀The฀One฀Best฀Way:฀Frederick฀Winslow฀Taylor฀and฀the฀Enigma฀of฀ Efficiency฀(New฀York:฀Viking,฀1997). ฀ 18.฀ F.฀W.฀Taylor,฀“Why฀Manufacturers฀Dislike฀College฀Students,”฀cited฀by฀Kanigel฀in฀ One฀Best฀Way,฀138–39...