Nylon and Bombs: DuPont and the March of Modern America PDF
Preview Nylon and Bombs: DuPont and the March of Modern America
Nylon and Bombs studies in industry and society Philip B. Scranton, Series Editor Published with the assistance of the Hagley Museum and Library Related titles in the series: elspeth h. brown, The Corporate Eye: Photography and the Rationalization of American Commercial Culture, 1884–1929 clark davis, Company Men: White-Collar Life and Corporate Cultures in Los Angeles, 1892–1941 pamela walker laird, Advertising Progress: American Business and the Rise of Consumer Marketing karen ward mahar, Women Filmmakers in Early Hollywood joanne yates, Control through Communication: The Rise of System in American Management joanne yates, Structuring the Information Age: Life Insurance and Technology in the Twentieth Century Nylon and Bombs DuPont and the March of Modern America Pap A. Ndiaye Translated by Elborg Forster The Johns Hopkins University Press Baltimore Ouvrage publié avec le concours du Ministère français chargé de la culture—Centre National du Livre. (This book has been published with the assistance of the Center for the Study of the Book, a section of the French Ministry of Culture.) © 2007 The Johns Hopkins University Press All rights reserved. Published 2007 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 The Johns Hopkins University Press 2715 North Charles Street Baltimore, Maryland 21218-4363 www.press.jhu.edu Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Ndiaye, Pap [Du nylon et des bombes. English] Nylon and bombs : Dupont and the march of modern America / Pap A. Ndiaye ; translated by Elborg Forster. p. cm. — (Studies in industry and society) Includes bibliographical references and index. : ---- : --- (hardcover : alk. paper) . E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company—History. 2. Chemical industry—United States—History. 3. Research, Industrial—United States— History. 4. Military—industrial complex—United States—History. I. Title. II. Series .. .'—dc A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. Contents Translator’s Note vii Introduction 1 DuPont and the Rise of Chemical Engineering 5 From Ammonia to Nylon: Technologies and Careers 63 Culture and Politics at DuPont before World War II 106 The Forgotten Engineers of the Bomb 141 The Heyday and Decline of Chemical Engineering 179 Conclusion 229 Notes 235 Essay on Sources and Historiography 267 Index 283 Illustrations appear following page 140. This page intentionally left blank Translator’s Note This book has—with the author’s approval—undergone some changes in translation. Most important, a lengthy section of the original chapter 1, en- titled “How to Write a History of the Chemical Industry,” is incorporated into the “Essay on Sources and Historiography,” which now takes the place of the “Bibliographical References” in the original text. The rest of chapter 1 became part of a new chapter 1, formerly chapter 2. Hence, the original chapter 3 is now chapter 2, and so forth. In addition, American sources have sometimes been supplied in place of French sources, for instance, with respect to subjects like Prohibition and the Hanford environmental cleanup. Some references to French equivalents of American institutions have been omitted. My translation has greatly benefited from the work of Peter Dreyer, the copy editor for the Johns Hopkins University Press. I thank him for many excel- lent suggestions; any remaining errors or infelicities of style are of course my own. Elborg Forster This page intentionally left blank Nylon and Bombs
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