Tomorrows World 3 



ideas; and blueprints and chemical formulas of all kinds were 

 allowed to gather dust in office files for years. Technological 

 advances had been brought almost to a standstill as compared 

 with the progress made in normal times. 



The dramatic and important difference between this situa- 

 tion and that of 1917 was the fact that, in 1940, time, men, 

 and materials were all equally precious. In this fact lies the 

 clue to the amazing peacetime developments on the horizon. 

 Shortcuts of a breath-taking variety were in order. New tech- 

 niques in mass production on a vaster scale than anyone had 

 hitherto believed possible were essential. Every possible device 

 for saving man hours, especially of skilled workmen, had 

 become imperative. There was no margin for waste. There 

 was no real margin of safety for error and everyone knew 

 that errors would be made. Yet many dangerous gambles had 

 to be taken. 



For example, blueprints for new tools and machines, chem- 

 ical formulas on paper, and drafts of new processes utilizing 

 waste materials that have been gathering dust in the files for 

 years are of limited value. Performance records are urgently 

 necessary. But time did not permit the exhaustive investiga- 

 tion and checking ordinarily undertaken. In many cases tech- 

 nicians were obliged to go ahead with production plans with- 

 out the benefit of essential data, relying on routine tests and 

 their previous experience with similar tools and procedures. 

 The risk was staggering. During this period- technicians lived 

 with their hearts in their throats. Every scrap of material had 

 to be made to go further than it had ever gone before. Then 

 came the crisis in raw materials. In some cases engineers called 

 upon the industrial chemists actually to create new materials 

 to take the place of raw supplies. 



As Theodore G. Joslin, Director of Public Relations for 

 E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, revealed, "Our 

 laboratories were scoured for new things. The scarcity of 



