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Interview no.: 0129
Date of interview: 24 January 1995
Location: Fort Myers, Florida
No. of pages: 63
Interviewer:
James J. Bohning
Minutes:
Sponsor: Society of Chemical Industry
Access level: Free Access. Users may view, quote from, cite, or reproduce the oral history with the permission of CHF. Users citing interviews for purposes of publication are obliged under the terms of the CHF Oral History Program to notify CHF of publication and credit CHF using the following format: [Name of interviewee], interview by [name of interviewer] at [interview location], [interview date] (Philadelphia: Chemical Heritage Foundation, Oral History Transcript # [interview number]).
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Eugene G. Rochow begins this interview by talking about his early years in New Jersey and his family background in the Brandenburg region of Germany. Rochow’s interest in electricity and silicon stems from his first radio set, which he put together using silicon crystals. Sparked by his brother Theodore’s interest in chemistry, Rochow joined his brother as a chemistry assistant both in high school and at Cornell University. He worked as both lecture and laboratory assistant to Louis M. Dennis, then chair of Cornell’s chemistry department, who referred Rochow to Alfred Stock as a lecture assistant. Here, Rochow relates some anecdotes about Alfred Stock. Although the Depression caused severe cuts in job opportunities, Rochow found employment with the Hotpoint Company, a General Electric Company subsidiary, where he conducted research on periclase. During this time, Rochow produced ethyl phenyl silicone, which Corning Glass Works had also just produced, for use as an insulator. He then produced methyl silicone. This led to patent and publication difficulties between GE and Corning Glass Works, now the Dow-Corning Corporation. During this time, Rochow discovered how to produce methyl silicone, first using magnesium, then using silicochloroform and copper. Further, he and Charles E. Reed developed a way to manufacture methyl silicone using fluid-bed catalysis. Rochow continued his research on silicone production and zinc promotor development until his transfer to Richmond, Washington, where he conducted research on nuclear fission as a source of domestic energy. When the U.S. Government requested GE to work on nuclear propulsion for naval vessels, Rochow, a Quaker, left to teach chemistry at Harvard University. Rochow closes with comments on how his Perkin Medal award brought him international recognition and expanded professional opportunities.
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| Title & Description |
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Page No. |
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Family Background and Early Education
Childhood in Maplewood, New Jersey; family background in Brandenburg, Germany. Der Kinderfreund, text authored by ancestor. Childhood interest in electricity. Early use of silicon as a crystal detector in radio sets. Influential high school teachers in chemistry and mathematics. |
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1 |
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Education
Decision to attend Cornell University along with older brother, Theodore. Hechscher Research Foundation fellowship and related research requirements. Ezra X. Cornell, Cornell University founder. Chemistry department and Rochow's assistantships under Louis M. Dennis. Influential professors at Cornell. Lecture assistantship with Alfred Stock. Stock's work with boron hydrides and mercury. Stock anecdotes. Theodore Rochow's career in microscopy and text, An Introduction to Microscopy. |
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6 |
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Early Career
Summer job with Halowax Corporation. Effects of Depression on career prospects. Summer job with Hotpoint Company, a General Electric Company subsidiary, analyzing magnesite for use in making periclase. Periclase as insulation in electric ranges. Austauschdienst exchange fellowship. Honeymoon trip to Europe. |
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15 |
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Early Research at GE
Early work with Louis M. Navias. Otto Hahn's and Liza Meitner's work on uranium atom fission. Rochow's research on uranium hexafluoride. |
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Methyl Silicone; GE/Corning Glass Works Controversy
Research on ethyl phenyl silicone. First production and discovery of methyl silicone as insulator. GE-Corning controversy over methyl silicone. Production of methyl silicone using silicochloroform instead of magnesium. Dow-Corning/GE patent exchange agreement. Manufacture of methyl silicone using fluid-bed catalysis. Symposium at Toshiba with Charles E. Reed. |
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23 |
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Later Career
Later development of the production of methyl and other silicones. Struggle with Marshall over An Introduction to the Chemistry of the Silicones. Zinc promoter development. Move to Richland, Washington, to conduct research on nuclear fission as source of domestic energy. GE's government research on nuclear propulsion for naval vessels, and decision to leave GE. Chemistry professorship at Harvard University. International recognition as result of winning Perkin Medal. Guest professorship at University of Innsbruck. |
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41 |
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Notes
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48 |
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Index
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52 |
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| 1931 |
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B. Chemistry, Cornell University |
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| 1935 |
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Ph.D., Chemistry, Cornell University |
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| Halowax Corporation |
| 1931-1932 |
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Research Chemist |
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| Cornell University |
| 1932-1935 |
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Assistant Chemist |
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| General Electric Company Research Laboratory |
| 1935-1948 |
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Research Chemist |
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| Harvard University |
| 1948-1951 |
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Associate Professor |
| 1951-1970 |
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Professor |
| 1970-Present |
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Professor Emeritus |
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| 1948 |
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Honorary M.A., Harvard University
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| 1949 |
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Baekeland Medal, American Chemical Society
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| 1951 |
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Myer Award, American Ceramic Society
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| 1958 |
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Mattiello Award, Federal Paint & Varnish Society
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| 1962 |
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Perkin Medal, Society of Chemical Industry
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| 1964 |
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Honor Scroll, American Institute of Chemists
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| 1965 |
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Frederick Stanley Kipping Award, American Chemical Society
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| 1966 |
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Honorary D.Sc., Carolo-Wilhelmina Universität Braunschweig
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| 1968 |
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Chemical Pioneers Award, American Institute of Chemistry
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| 1970 |
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Award for Excellence in Teaching, Manufacturing Chemists Association
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| 1971 |
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Inventor’s Award, General Electric Company
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| 1973 |
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Norris Award for Teaching of Chemistry, American Chemical Society
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| 1983 |
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Alfred Stock Medal, German Chemical Society
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| 1992 |
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Honorary Doctorate of Natural Science, Technische Universität, Dresden
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James J. Bohning is professor emeritus of chemistry at Wilkes University, where he was a
faculty member from 1959 to 1990. He served there as chemistry department chair from 1970
to 1986 and environmental science department chair from 1987 to 1990. Bohning was chair of
the American Chemical Society’s Division of the History of Chemistry in 1986; he received the
division’s Outstanding Paper Award in 1989 and has presented more than forty papers at
national meetings of the society. Bohning was on the advisory committee of the society’s
National Historic Chemical Landmarks Program from its inception in 1992 through 2001 and is
currently a consultant to the committee. He developed the oral history program of the Chemical
Heritage Foundation, and he was the foundation’s director of oral history from 1990 to 1995.
From 1995 to 1998, Bohning was a science writer for the News Service group of the American
Chemical Society. He is currently a visiting research scientist and CESAR Fellow at Lehigh
University. In May 2005, he received the Joseph Priestley Service Award from the
Susquehanna Valley Section of the American Chemical Society.
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