Wallace Carothers

Yet, when we think of path-breaking, superstar inventors from history--such as Wallace Carothers (DuPont), Edwin Land (Polaroid), or William Shockley (Bell Labs and Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory), we often imagine hard-working and driven scientists who ignore financial incentives and merely seek intellectual achievement.

Carothers - Mack Wallace Carothers, 24, of Eugene, died Dec.

Acetylene can also be converted into vinyl acetylene, the raw material needed to manufacture the synthetic rubber neoprene, a discovery credited to DuPont chemist Wallace Carothers of the United States.