Chemistry in WWII: Fieser & Doering

Louis Fieser was a Harvard chemistry professor, known for his wartime work and inventing the "Harvard Candle"
Fieser synthesized vitamin K and wrote a definitive chemistry textbook with his wife Mary
He was known for his whimsical side and wrote about his experiments, a firebomb called the "Harvard Candle," and his Siamese cat, Syn Kai Pooh

William von Eggers Doering, a chemist at Yale & Harvard, worked with Louis Fieser in the early days of WWII
Doering described a specific experiment using TNT, bromine, and a Carius tube
He also described Robert Hershberg, Fieser's assistant known for his expertise in explosives and mechanical skills

Robert Hershberg recalled working with Fieser, storing defused bombs, and creating incendiary devices
He mentioned notebooks with incendiary devices designed to self-destruct if captured

Louis Fieser investigated divinylacetylene, a chemical compound that causes paint to ignite
He noticed divinylacetylene gelled when exposed to air and burned differently than liquid fuels
This observation led him to develop an incendiary bomb that dispersed burning globs of gel, rather than a single fire

Hershberg and Fieser tested various gel formulations for their incendiary properties
They found that rubber, benzene, and gasoline produced better burning gels than divinylacetylene

The text details a meeting of scientists and industrialists during the war
It describes the National Defense Research Committee (NDRC), whose efforts included the Manhattan Project
The meeting focused on incendiary bombs and the work of Hoyt Hottel's subcommittee of chemists

Hottel's subcommittee studied the properties of incendiary materials, focusing on how to burn things down
The subcommittee's work stemmed from an incident at a DuPont plant involving divinylacetylene
Their research explored how to make fires more effective, with a focus on incendiary bombs.

Napalm was developed as a weapon during World War II.
This was done by researchers at Harvard University in collaboration with the National Defense Research Committee (NDRC).
The project was led by Louis Fieser and Hoyt Hottel.
The goal was to create an incendiary weapon that was more effective than conventional firebombs.
They settled on a gel made of gasoline mixed with a thickener, such as aluminum stearate, that would stick to targets, making it more effective at creating fire.

Napalm was intended for use against Japan.
The goal of the weapon was to effectively set cities and houses on fire, taking advantage of Japan's wood-heavy building structure.
An analysis of cities like Osaka revealed that the combustible materials within the city were extensive due to houses being constructed mainly of wood and the common use of flammable materials like paper soaked in fish oil for ceilings.
This was viewed as a way to incapacitate Japanese industry and civilian systems, as factories and resource production occurred in homes as well as factories.

The first test of napalm involved a prototype detonated in a lagoon filled with water to avoid causing injuries.
Later, two sets of replica "villages" were constructed in the Utah desert for testing of the weapon's effectiveness.
One village replicated a German village composed of typical German buildings.
The other village mimicked a Japanese village and used materials like tatami mats, common to Japanese homes, to simulate real-world conditions.

Using napalm against Japanese cities was justified during the war, as it was argued that civilian-produced materials were central to Japanese industrial production.

Napalm was developed as a weapon against Japan during World War II.
It was intended to create fires and inflict damage on Japanese cities.
It was created by two American analysts who published an article in Harper's Magazine arguing that fire was the most effective way to retaliate against Japan.
The analysts used Osaka as an example and highlighted Japanese cities' construction materials making them susceptible to fires.

The US Navy Research and Development Board (NDRC) asked Hoyt Hottel to investigate the effectiveness of napalm.
Hottel created replica villages of Japanese and German houses at the Dugway Proving Ground, Utah.
The replica villages were built to resemble the actual buildings with realistic materials, such as tatami mats for the Japanese village and were designed by renowned architects like Erich Mendelsohn and Antonin Raymond.
Hottel's team detonated a napalm bomb in the center of a 100-foot diameter lagoon filled with eight inches of water.

Military leaders required concrete evidence of napalm's effectiveness before using it in combat.
The military believed that Japanese industry was partly based in homes and that firebombing would disrupt the war effort on all fronts.
The decision to employ napalm reflected a shift toward more aggressive tactics.

Some military leaders and analysts justified napalm usage by arguing that it was necessary to bring down a nation at war.
They rationalized the use of napalm by focusing on the destructive power of the weapon towards industry rather than civilian populations.
The idea of using firebombing against Japan was controversial at the time, but the justification shifted as the war progressed, leading to increasingly harsh tactics.