"Carothers was deeply emotional, generous, and modest. He had a lovable personality. Although generally silent in a group of people, he was a brilliant conversationalist when with a single individual and quickly displayed his broad education, his wide fund of information on all problems of current life, and his critical analysis of politics, labor problems, and business, as well as music, art, and philosophy." öRoger Adams, Carothers' professor at the University of Illinois

Wallace Carothers was born in Burlington, Iowa on 27 April 1896. As a child, he showed his skill at things technical, but also interest in a broad range of topics. As an undergraduate at Tarkio College in Missouri he taught classes not only in chemistry but in business and English literature as well. Carothers was always a lover of the arts, especially classical music and Russian literature.

"As a growing boy he had zest for work as well as play.
He enjoyed tools and mechanical things, and spent much
time in experimenting. He was great admirer of Thomas
A. Edison and seriously considered electrical engineering
for a profession."

öIra Carothers, father

Carothers is considered to be among the most important chemists of the twentieth century. In his lifetime he not only invented nylon, but also helped lay the foundations of the science of polymeric materials. Truly one of the giants of chemistry, the modest Carothers has been viewed with mystery by contemporaries and historians. But underneath the surface was a fascinating genius.

"He was a wonderful man. He was not your usual run of the
mill human being and it took all your imagination...it took
whatever I had to try to reach him. And it was worth trying,
because whenever anything came out it was worth hearing."

öPolly Butcher Hill, friend and wife of Julian Hill, a colleague of Carothers

"He possessed a melodious singing voice... His
collection of phonograph records included the
works of Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert and
others."

öIra Carothers

Carothers earned his doctorate at the University of Illinois under Roger Adams. There he also became friends with Carl "Speed" Marvel. Both Adams and Marvel would become consultants to DuPont when Carothers began his work there. After three semesters teaching chemistry at Harvard, the young Carothers was recruited by DuPont where he would spend the next nine year. His would be a short but groundbreaking career.

References

1. Carothers, Ira to Roger Adams [2 December 1937], Adams papers, University of Illinois Archives, Urbana, IL.

2. Hill, Polly. Interview with Matthew Hermes, 29 May 1990.

3. Hermes, Matthew. Enough for One Lifetime: Wallace Carothers, Inventor of Nylon. Washington, D.C.: American Chemical Society; Philadelphia: Chemical Heritage Foundation, 1996, pp. 5-6, 6-19, 210.

4. Labovsky, Joseph. Oral history by John K. Smith, 24 July 1996. Philadelphia: Chemical Heritage Foundation.

Photo credit

Wallace Carothers outdoors - Carl Marvel Archives, Chemical Heritage Foundation.