Nylon and Bombs: DuPont and the March of Modern America

308 Pages·2007·2.881 MB·English

by  Pap A. Ndiaye, Elborg Forster (translator)

Nylon and Bombs
studies in industry and society
Philip B. Scranton, Series Editor
Published with the assistance of
the Hagley Museum and Library
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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.
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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
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Nylon and Bombs