Nylon and Bombs: DuPont and the March of Modern America

4. The Forgotten Engineers of the Bomb

       ฀ f o u r The฀Forgotten฀Engineers฀of฀the฀Bomb ฀ ฀ ฀ In฀early฀August฀1945,฀the฀blinding฀flashes฀that฀devastated฀Hiroshima฀and฀Nagasaki ฀instantly฀propelled฀the฀Manhattan฀Project฀from฀the฀deepest฀secrecy฀to฀ the฀top฀of฀the฀news.฀One฀week฀after฀the฀atomic฀explosions,฀the฀portrait฀of฀the฀ charismatic฀J.฀Robert฀Oppenheimer฀was฀on฀the฀cover฀of฀Life฀magazine.฀The฀ traditional฀account฀of฀the฀history฀of฀the฀Manhattan฀Project฀gives฀star฀billing฀ to฀the฀great฀names฀of฀nuclear฀physics.฀Historians฀have฀been฀fascinated฀by฀the฀ physicists฀and฀have฀essentially฀adopted฀their฀point฀of฀view. ฀ But฀what,฀after฀fifty฀years฀of฀basic฀research,฀made฀it฀possible฀to฀move฀from฀the฀ first฀experimental฀reactor฀built฀in฀December฀1942฀to฀the฀bombs฀that฀exploded฀ above฀the฀Japanese฀cities฀less฀than฀three฀years฀later?฀What฀accounts฀for฀the฀success ฀in฀getting฀tens฀of฀thousands฀of฀people฀to฀work฀together,฀of฀stamping฀giant฀ factories฀out฀of฀the฀ground฀in฀a฀few฀months,฀of฀mastering฀new฀technologies฀ in฀rapid฀order?฀The฀Manhattan฀Project฀was฀not฀only฀a฀matter฀of฀cutting-edge฀ research฀in฀nuclear฀physics.฀It฀also฀posed฀a฀set฀of฀technical฀problems.฀It฀was฀an฀ industrial฀program,฀and฀the฀necessary฀know-how฀did฀not฀appear฀out฀of฀nothing ;฀it฀had฀been฀forged฀over฀a฀half-century฀of฀learning฀the฀techniques฀of฀mass฀ production฀in฀the฀high-pressure฀chemical฀industry,฀particularly฀at฀DuPont. ฀ ฀ ฀ ฀ Nylon฀and฀Bombs ฀ DuPont’s฀participation฀in฀the฀Manhattan฀Project฀is฀known฀to฀the฀experts฀in฀ the฀field.฀The฀official฀histories฀of฀the฀project฀note฀that฀DuPont’s฀chemical฀engineers ฀were฀in฀charge฀of฀the฀production฀of฀plutonium,฀the฀main฀component฀ of฀the฀of฀the฀Nagasaki฀bomb.1฀David฀Hounshell฀and฀John฀K.฀Smith฀devote฀a฀ few฀pages฀to฀the฀Manhattan฀Project’s฀industrial฀aspect฀in฀their฀1988฀book฀Science ฀and฀Corporate฀Strategy:฀Du฀Pont฀R&D,฀1902–1980,฀but฀the฀role฀played฀by฀ DuPont฀during฀the฀war฀is฀not฀central฀to฀their฀study,฀which฀on฀the฀contrary฀ stresses฀the฀relation฀of฀science฀and฀technology฀to฀the฀market฀and฀to฀DuPont’s฀ commercial฀strategy.2฀For฀these฀two฀authors,฀as฀for฀Alfred฀Chandler,฀everything฀ political—and฀what฀is฀more฀political฀than฀a฀war?—somehow฀lies฀outside฀the฀ subject. ฀ I฀do฀not฀intend฀here฀to฀narrate฀the฀details฀of฀a฀history฀simply฀because฀this฀ has฀not฀yet฀been฀done.฀Some฀of฀the฀technical฀data฀I฀shall฀examine฀are฀known฀to฀ specialists,฀others฀are฀not—in฀particular,฀as฀far฀as฀certain฀aspects฀of฀the฀DuPont฀ organization฀and฀its฀links฀to฀the฀other฀partners฀of฀the฀project฀are฀concerned— but฀my฀objective฀here฀is฀very฀different฀from฀writing฀a฀new฀general฀history฀of฀ the฀Manhattan฀project.฀What฀I฀have฀set฀out฀to฀analyze฀is฀the฀manner฀in฀which฀ DuPont’s฀chemical฀engineers฀were฀able฀to฀impose฀their฀way฀of฀doing฀things฀ and฀their฀organization฀on฀their฀military฀and฀scientific฀partners.฀This฀will฀offer฀ a฀new฀perspective฀on฀the฀project,฀one฀that฀is฀not฀meant฀to฀invalidate฀the฀existing ฀ones฀but฀to฀bring฀out฀their฀hitherto฀neglected฀dimensions.฀This฀was฀also฀ done฀by฀Thomas฀Hughes,฀who฀establishes฀a฀connection฀between฀the฀Tennessee฀ Valley฀Authority฀and฀the฀Manhattan฀Project,฀both฀being฀joint฀systems฀of฀science ฀and฀large-scale฀technology฀operating฀under฀the฀aegis฀of฀the฀government.3฀ The฀difficulty฀is฀that฀the฀industrialists฀are฀placed฀in฀the฀background,฀as฀if฀they฀ had฀been฀no฀more฀than฀secondary฀players฀in฀the฀service฀of฀the฀commissioning฀ agency.฀As฀we฀shall฀see,฀things฀went฀very฀differently. ฀ I฀have฀made฀use฀of฀the฀recently฀opened฀DuPont฀archives฀(including฀Crawford ฀Greenewalt’s฀notebooks),฀as฀well฀as฀of฀memoirs฀by฀Arthur฀Compton฀and฀ General฀Leslie฀Groves฀and฀official฀histories฀that฀provide฀a฀detailed฀chronological ฀outline.4฀I฀propose฀three฀sequences฀of฀analysis,฀that฀is฀to฀say,฀three฀ways฀of฀ considering฀the฀Manhattan฀Project฀from฀the฀point฀of฀view฀of฀the฀role฀played฀ by฀DuPont:฀the฀firm’s฀integration฀into฀the฀project฀(first฀series);฀the฀building฀of฀ the฀pilot฀plant฀(in฀which฀the฀chemical฀engineers฀imposed฀their฀culture,฀second฀ series);฀the฀building฀of฀the฀plutonium฀production฀plant฀(the฀institutionalization ฀of฀the฀chemical฀engineers,฀third฀series). DuPont’s฀Integration฀into฀the฀Manhattan฀Project The฀Genesis฀of฀the฀Project How฀did฀DuPont฀come฀to฀play฀a฀central฀role฀in฀the฀Manhattan฀Project?฀This฀ question฀is฀not฀given฀enough฀attention฀by฀the฀official฀historian฀of฀the฀Manhattan ฀Project,฀Richard฀Hewlett,฀who฀considered฀DuPont’s฀participation฀“natural.”฀ But฀the฀fact฀is฀that฀the฀integration฀of...