Wallace Hume Carothers

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     Have you ever wondered what some toothbrushes, fishing lines, neckties, sewing thread, jewellery bead cord, football pants, ropes, luggage, and sporting gear are made out of? Nylon of coarse, invented by Wallace H. Carothers, who was an incredibly talented man that contributed much to the synthetic fibre industry. In fact he has been named one of the most brilliant chemists ever1. He is credited for the invention of two fabrics called Nylon and Neoprene.

     Carothers was born on April 27, 1896 in Burlington, Iowa. He was schooled in the public schools of Des Moines. For his post secondary education he first studied accounting and subsequently studied science, while teaching accounting, at Tarkio College in Missouri. He obtained teaching positions briefly at the University of South Dakota, University of Illinois and Harvard University. (While at Harvard he began his research into chemical structures of polymers in 1924.) In 1928 he left Harvard, after only three semesters, and joined Du Pont as head of fundamental research in organic chemistry. He was attracted by a team of postdoctoral associates, an emphasis on theoretical research, a promise of the most up-to-date equipment and the agreement that he would be allowed a completely free hand to do fundamental research. During his nine years at Du Pont, Carothers fell in love with a woman named Helen Sweetman, a fellow employee, and they were married in 1936. They had a child but tragically Carothers committed suicide before his beloved daughter was born. It is thought that Carothers suffered from sever manic-depressive disorder2, and with the death of his sister earlier that year, it is believed that his disorder hit an all time low, forcing him to commit suicide by consuming a deadly ration of poison cyanide on April 29, 1937.

     Wallace Carothers has been credited with two important inventions, (though he has been credited for more than 50 patents) the first of which being neoprene, invented in 1931. Previous to this discovery, the Du Pont chemical company opened a research laboratory for the development of artificial materials. This lab was used extensively by Carothers and his team when they began to investigate the acetylene family of chemicals. Carothers (and his team) also manufactured his synthetic rubber, neoprene, in this lab. (Carothers' team was made up of eight scientists, six of whom had PhDs)

     Carothers' second important invention was nylon, invented on May 24, 1934. Before the creation of this new fabric called nylon, Carothers went through a period of considerable anxiety, leading him to inquire about returning to Harvard. His team had been trying to produce a synthetic fabric that could be produced in the States because Japan was the leading producer of silk and the relationship between these two countries was decaying. The problem was not that they could not invent a fabric but rather that there was a small amount of water produced in the process which would drip back into the mixture, weakening the fibres. Carothers soon fixed this problem by using a machine called the "molecular still," which made it possible to make longer molecules than ever before. He used a process of pulling out the fibres once they had cooled. This made them several times longer, with more elasticity and much stronger than ever before. Later this nylon was coined nylon 66 because both chemicals used to make it had six carbon atoms.

     Nylon was an instant seller as soon as the fabric was available in May of 1940. Du Pont was making huge amounts of profit off this product, so much that they produced 60 million pairs of women's tight leggings, this was more than the amount of women living in all of the United States at the time!

     Nylon became very important during the Second World War. The military used it in 3.8 million parachutes, a half a million air plane tires, uncounted numbers of glider tow ropes, flask vests, and blood plasma filters all made out of nylon.

     Due to the unexpected death of Wallace Hume Carothers the world has lost wet another brilliant scientist who will be greatly missed and remembered for his entrepreneurial skills used extensively in the field of science. His ingenious mind will be missed by all who follow his lead into the science profession.

Wallace Hume Carothers - Nylon and Synthetic Fibers - In this site you will find information about the history of Nylon and Neoprene.
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Wallace Hume Carothers - In this web site you will find information about the life of Wallace Hume Carothers.
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