VI
CHEMISTRY IN THE INDUSTRIES
CHEMICAL INDUSTRY, in the United States, grew
directly in answer to needs violently made evident by
World War I. Before the War, American-made dyes were not
even listed in the official census reports. Our farmers had to
buy German potash and Chilean nitrate. Our physicians
looked to Europe for important drugs and optical glass.
America-bound ships, heavy with goods and raw materials,
testified to our dependency upon foreign countries. At that
time our homes differed little from those of our grandfathers;
we used the same textiles for our clothes and the same fin-
ishes on our horseless carriages. All steel rusted. The best
rubber tires were worn out after about three thousand miles
of highly uncertain road service. During the war there was
the terrific driving power of necessity. There was the insistent
urge to do bigger and better things, faster and faster. Ideas
were translated into practice. Better methods were devel-
oped. New machines and products appeared.
After the War every branch of American industry seemed
to possess a consciousness of the enormous power of science
and the significance of its application to industry. Here was
a challenge to improve upon the old methods and customs,
a time to branch out into absolutely new territory. Here
was the time to make use of potential ideas and abundant
raw materials. And so there came to the chemical labora-
tories, textiles, steel, transportation, food and other industries.
“It is science, not governments nor wars of conquest, that
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