The sun., 1912-07-07
.ENClAND'S GAIN IN
SYNTHETIC RUBBER
Invention Important to Nation.
Says Sir William
Ramsay.
WORK OF 4 GROUP OF MEN
British Rivalry to Germany in
Chemical Industry One
Hoped For Result.
WORK OF 4 GROUP OF MEN

LONDON. June ~ --- The newspapers
discuss at great length the invention of
synthetic rubber. details Of which we're
recently cabled to The SrN. Sir William
Ramsay now tells the whole story 81 the
enterprise. the object Of which, he says
has not been financial but patriotic.
II is an attempt 10 establish British
chemical industry on n scale rivalIing
that of Germany That. says Sir William
is the great scientific importance Of the
invention. a result achieved not by in
vention but by the orga ni7ation Of invcn-
iion. Sir William says:
Synthetic rubber has been made for
twenty years regardless Of expense. II
was done by Grevil!e Williams from a
destructive distillation product Of rubber
and by Sir William Tilden from turpentine,
which was the first manufacture of real
rubber from non-rubher substance.
Present researches are on cheaper
lines. the work for the last two and
half years having been concentrated on
methods involving very cheap and plenti
ful raw materials.
Il cannot diy,ilge the details AZ present.
but the raw materials used are a cheap
cereal such az maze. which il the base.
and salt coal and lime are the ultimate
reagents make no claim for RESPONSE
bility for the invention. My function has
been that Of corsultant and adviser
throughout, But the discovery itself l.
the work of a group. who have freely
communicated their ideas one TO another,
and the actual important steps forward
have usually been due to the work of
several men.
The great scientific importance of the
event is the bringing back 10 England of
synthetic organic chemistry, and this has
been achieved not 10y invention but 10y
the organization Of invention. ! am Ger.
tain that we have in this country as able
and "a original chemists a. anywhere in
the world. but what We have wanted in
the past has been an organizer 10 group
them together.
You tan no more expect one man TO
create a synthetic edifice of this kind
than expect one man alone 10 build a
hat, r,leship. The complexity Of the enter.
prise is enormous. The process Of dis
covery is generally one Of exclusion. The
world has 10 ba ransacked for materials;
ot her conditions have to lie Experimental
With, and the permutations and combina
tions Of all these factors are gigan,ic III
number
occasionally one has stroke Of luck
Such was tn. fundamental discovery by
DR.. Matthews of the Quantitative con
version Of isoprene into rubber by the
sodium process. had warned Mr..
Strange al the time when ! joined the
group that this would probably no bv far
the most difficult part of the investigation.
but as a matter Of fact the discovery was
made hy accident when seeking another
result altogethe
"As 10 the organic chemistry side of tho
discovery. Prof, Fernbach and his assist
ants were responsible for the fermenta-
tion method, for the conversion Of one cf
the plentiful materials Of the world
(starchy materials chiefly, into organic
liquids, such a. fusel oil and acetone; these
the organic chemists were then able TO
convert into rubber,
"The member Of the group with chemical
and business knowledge has been f. Hal
ford Strange. who had to keep constantly
before tho in est tigatOrs the factor Of cost,
to interest the capitalists necessary for
such vast undertaking and procure the
funds requisite for tho research. Asco
sultant and adviser | have given MIR.
Strange assistance in keeping prom
inently forward the factor of cost.
"The whole obje'l Of he enterprise has
not been a financial but a patriotic one
II il a matter of international rivalry. the
importance of which lies in it's Icing an
effort to establish British chemical in
dustry on scale rivalling that OF Ger
many. We have always held our position
in what ! may call the heavy chemical
industries -sulphuric acid, soda. hichro-
mate and bleaching powder; we wan, TO
go further and synthetise many suh-
stan, es whi'h ,Gn hs made rNh the he lp
~ these reagents
As 10 the ouilty f ;he rev synthttic
rutltr. no complete tests have htsn
possible, but We know that the qua lity