The Industrial Revolution, with origins in England 300 ywars ago, set the world on a course that led to the comfortable style of living now being enjoyed by many of its citizens. This was a transformation that is well documented and presents a fascinating history. When we turn on television, use a computer, heat in a microwave oven, open a refrigerator, drive a car, take an antibiotic and utilize all the other things that make our life easy and enjoyable, do we ever wonder how these things...

This is the remarkable story of an entrepreneurial firm that helped to create the petrochemical industry as we know it today. The author also highlights the important role chemical engineers played in developing and commercializing new technologies based on the conversion of hydrocarbons into petrochemicals, which also led to the transfer of technological dominance from Germany to the United States. These developments are illustrated by the participants’ personal histories, in the form of ...