228 



National Resources Planning Board 



Figure GS. — A Chemical Research Laljoratory, E. I. du Pont 

 de Nemours and Company, Incorporated, Wihuington, 

 Delaware 



America, especially in the last 25 years, can be attrib- 

 uted in large part to the intensive application of 

 research. One important result is that still more 

 research has been undertaken. 



New Industries Created 



Alanj' new industries have been created. A modern 

 example is in the growing utilization of fractions of 

 petroleum, and, indeed, of individual hydrocarbons 

 derived therefrom. Butane, propane, and pentane are 

 among those raw materials that have lent themselves 

 to the production of new lines of chemicals and the s^ni- 

 thesis of well-known individual compounds. Today 

 ethylene is made the source of manj' millions of gallons 

 of alcohol, while acetone and even glycerin must be 

 numbered among items S5mthesized from petroleum 

 gases. 



One of our best examples is the synthetic resin 

 industry, because of its impress upon nearly every other 

 industry. Early in our century the literature revealed 

 some experiments in organic chemistry which had not 

 yielded the product sought by the initial investigator, 

 but which suggested to a reader a new line of research. 

 The result was the synthetic resin, Bakclite, a conden- 



sation product of phenol and formaldehyde. That 

 appeared in 1907, smce which time whole new groups 

 of resins have been introduced. Application of these 

 materials has involved research and ingenuity almost 

 on a par with the preparation of the resins themselves. 

 New raw materials have been employed, additional 

 characteristics have been imparted to the resins, and 

 manufacturers are now quite likely to inquire first of all 

 as to whether a resin will serve as a raw material before 

 investigating metals, wood, or other substances. 



The manufacture of rayon in its various kinds is 

 well known as a new industry created through chemical 

 research. Though begun with the pioneer work of 

 Chardonnet in the gay nineties, it is still a subject of 

 intensive research and the improved yarns and fabrics 

 that are offered year by year to the consuming public 

 indicate the success of that continuing program. Other 

 kinds of synthetic fibers are now emerging from the 

 research laboratories. 



A new industry was created when chemists joined 

 engineers in a search for the reason why internal-com- 

 bustion motors developed a knock, and, having dis- 

 covered the cause, undertook to provide a solution. 

 Thus the manufacture and distribution of tetraethyl 

 lead have become a new industry of great magnitude. 



The ehlorination of hydrocarbons for the manufacture 

 of new solvents and of chemicals wliich until lately have 

 been almost theoretical, or were at best produced only 

 on a laboratory scale, is another instance of a highly 

 successfid industry built entirely on chemical research. 



The list of new industries created through chemical 

 research in particular could be made of great length, 

 but the facts are well known, and social planners, 

 economists, and those interested in public welfare have 

 come to regard research as the most hopeful soiutc of 

 newer and bigger industries that would be potent in 

 helping to solve the complex unemployment problem. 



Monopolies Broken 



Industrial research is often effective in breaking 

 certain types of monopolies. It is more effective than 

 legislation in accomplishing this end, because it achieves 

 its objective constructively, finding new sources or 

 offering equivalent products rather than destroying 

 those already available. Let the demand be insistent 

 enough or the monetary reward high enough, and 

 research will be initiated to circumvent patents, to 

 produce that which has formerly been a natural national 

 monopoly, or to find a dissimilar material capable of 

 performing the same service. The fixation of atmos- 

 pheric nitrogen, now proceeding in all important coun- 

 tries, effectively destroyed the Chilean monopoly which 

 had existed until 1912. Sir Wilham Crookes' fear of 

 famine due to a nitrogen shortage of fertilizers has long 

 since vanished, and we now have a peacetime world 



