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by Randy CassinghamRandy Cassingham's Honorary Unsubscribe Recognizes the Unknown, the Forgotten and the Obscure People who Had an Impact on Our Lives
Donald L. Campbell
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A chemical engineer at the Standard Oil Co., Campbell and three other engineers perfected a way to get more out of crude oil. By using catalysts to "crack" the large hydrocarbon molecules into smaller ones, the process Campbell's team developed in 1942 increased the U.S.'s output of aviation fuel by 6,000 percent, as well as made other processes much more efficient, such as the creation of synthetic rubber -- obviously a great help to the allied effort in World War II. As a bonus, the process was relatively cheap. In 1951, Fortune magazine called the process "what many engineers consider the most revolutionary chemical-engineering achievement of the last 50 years." The process is still used today. Campbell, the only surviving member of the team dubbed the "four horsemen" by his peers, died September 14 in New Jersey. He was 98.
From This is True for 15 September 2002
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