1 62 Miracles Ahead! 



we can put coal tar to so many uses is that when we know 

 how the organic molecule is built up, we can generally make 

 it from the disintegration products of any organic material." 



Petroleum, like coal, consists of stores of dead organic mate- 

 rial produced millions of years ago by the energy from the 

 sun. Therefore, by taking the hydrocarbons of which petro- 

 leum is composed, and which are the building blocks of all 

 organic matter, and rearranging them, the chemist can create 

 an amazing array of useful materials. At one time the oil 

 refinery produced chiefly lubricants, kerosene, gasoline, 

 naphtha waxes, and fuel oil. Today the refinery is a chemical 

 plant that hooks together giant chains of hydrocarbon mole- 

 cules to produce "tailor-made" high-octane gasoline for com- 

 bat planes, and also turns out products that closely resemble 

 common natural substances such as wood, leather, or rubber. 



Toluol until very recent years was a by-product of coal. 

 Now it is a petroleum product. Butadiene and other bases for 

 synthetic rubber are being turned out in increasing quanti- 

 ties. The Union Carbide and Carbon Corporation led the way 

 in taking refinery gases, which once were wasted or reburned 

 as fuel, and synthesizing many chemicals such as acetylene, 

 which is used as the base for neoprene synthetic rubber, as 

 well as for welding metals; sulphuric acid, which has hun- 

 dreds of uses as an industrial chemical; ethylene dichloride for 

 vitamins, antiknock fluid, plastics, and insecticides; ethylene 

 glycol for dynamite and antifreeze aircraft-engine coolant; 

 acetone for rayon, photo film, and solvents; and formalde- 

 hyde, chloroform, ether, and many other chemicals used in 

 solvents, dyes, plastics, finishes, and lifesaving drugs. 



The Plastics 



Research in cellulose plastics by the Bell Telephone Labo- 

 ratories reveals many interesting properties of these curious 



