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We Called It Mag-Nificent: Dow Chemical and Magnesium, 1916-1998
Contributor(s): Brandt, E. N. (Author)
ISBN: 161186075X     ISBN-13: 9781611860757
Publisher: Michigan State University Press
OUR PRICE:   $22.46  
Product Type: Hardcover
Published: May 2013
Qty:
Temporarily out of stock - Will ship within 2 to 5 weeks
Additional Information
BISAC Categories:
- Business & Economics | Infrastructure
- Science | History
Dewey: 338.766
LCCN: 2012028148
Physical Information: 0.81" H x 6.38" W x 9.22" (0.94 lbs) 150 pages
 
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
Publisher Description:
During World War I, in 1916, Herbert Dow, founder of The Dow Chemical Company, received news of "star shells," weapons that glowed eerily as they descended over the trenches of the enemy, making them easier to attack. The critical component in these flares was magnesium, a metal that was suddenly in great demand. Dow, along with a half-dozen other U.S. firms, swiftly began manufacturing magnesium, but by 1927 Dow was the only U.S. company still in the business. Dow's key innovation was a method of extracting the metal from seawater, an engineering accomplishment finally achieved at Freeport, Texas, only eleven months prior to the Pearl Harbor attack. Dow was the principal supplier of magnesium for U.S. and British planes during World War II, a distinction that ironically yielded an indictment from the U.S. government on monopoly charges. The company eventually became the world's largest manufacturer of magnesium until 1990, when the Chinese entered the market and offered the metal at rock-bottom prices. Dow quietly ended its production of magnesium in 1998. Brandt's history is an engaging look at Dow's eighty-three-year romance with this remarkable metal.

Contributor Bio(s): Brandt, E. N.: -

E. N. Brandt has been the company historian of Dow Chemical since 1983. A journalism graduate of Michigan State University, he served as a U.S. Army officer in World War II, as a United Press correspondent, and as a U.S. State Department employee in Europe before joining Dow's public relations department in 1953.