Tuesday, September 27, 2011

PART II of the History of Nylon: WALLACE CAROTHERS TWIST INTO A DARK WORLD


Originally Loved: If You Like "Vintage" Fashion, Than Check Out: www.OriginallyLoved.com

Many Would Feel The Life of Wallace Carothers would have been far from having a Dark Ending. For One, He was the oldest of Four Siblings from a caring Family. His Favorite Sister was a Radio Star of a Musical Trio. His Father was a Teacher at His Local Community College in Iowa.


People Around His Area Said that as a boy he was known to be an Egghead. He loved Mechanical tools & Reading. His Favorite Studies Were Gulliver's Travels, Mark Twain Books & studies on Thomas Edison's life. In High School, He grew a liking to Chemistry so much that he turned his bedroom into a Miniature laboratory. After this, His friends began to call him "Doc" & "Professor". It is known that if he were to change anything in his life, he would have been a musician, but, these thoughts as a young boy surely eased away from his mind as he became more fond to the subject of Chemistry.


Carothers was his families 1st Scientist


It was known that he did Very Well in school. After High School, he attended Tarkio College in Missouri, where he studied Accounting. Later on , he began studying science. Because Money was Tight, He was forced to work his way through college by teaching Accounting. While still an undergraduate student, he became head of the Chemistry department at Tarkio because WWI caused a shortage of staff. After this , he attended the University of Illinois, where he graduated with his Master's and PhD. Then, he became a Professor at Harvard, in 1924, where his journey began in research toward discovering Nylon.


After Teaching At Harvard, He began to work at Dupont Company, where he soon discovered how to create Nylon. During his research at Dupont, his favorite sister passed away in January 1936. This made him very depressed. He started to feel so depressed, like life was worthless & that his work in life was meaningless. This became his new obsession in thought. People around him would state that he could list all the famous chemist that committed suicide. Some of his coworkers rumored that he carried around a bit of poisoning cyanide. In April of 1937, Battling with His Depression, two days before his birthday, he committed suicide, by consuming the same poisonous cyanide. Leaving behind his unborn daughter named Jane & his wife. 


In a Letter Written by Carothers he mentions this:
"My time is divided into molecules, which are abstract entities that one assesses but never sees. That is Theoretically my time spent in this dirty, frigid, and lofty manner...,"


He is remembered until this day for his creation of Nylon, the fabric & has received many awards for his talent after his death. 


Originally Loved: If You Like "Vintage" Fashion, Than Check Out: www.OriginallyLoved.com


Picture Source: "Wallace Carothers": www.imitandoanatureza.blogspot.org

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