Wallace (Hume) Carothers - Biography

Chemist and inventor, born in Burlington, Iowa, USA. A teacher's son, he taught chemistry at several universities before concentrating on industrial research. Working for the Du Pont Company, he produced neoprene, the first synthetic rubber, and followed that success with the discovery of nylon. He committed suicide, and the patent for nylon went posthumously to Du Pont.

Wallace Hume Carothers (April 27, 1896 – April 29, 1937) was an American chemist, inventor, and the leader of organic chemistry at DuPont, who is credited with the invention of nylon.

Biography

Carothers was born in Burlington, Iowa. In April 1930, Carothers' team created neoprene, the first synthetic rubber, and synthesized the first polyester superpolymer, a forerunner to nylon. Carothers carried out experiments in 1935 that resulted in the production of nylon.

Carothers, who may have suffered from bipolar disorder, committed suicide in 1937 by drinking lemon juice laced with potassium cyanide. His death came two years before the introduction of nylon fiber and the resulting synthetic fiber revolution. Although the creation of nylon was the result of a team effort, Carothers' role was crucial therein, and as a result he is often credited as the inventor of nylon.

Dr. Carothers was an avid reader of poetry and lover of classical music.

Carothers' biography was written by Dr. Matt Hermes, who worked at the Central Research Department at DuPont where Carothers completed his seminal work.