Post World War II

The introduction of polyethylene for consumer applications began immediately at the conclusion of World War II, when polyethylene capacity increases at ICI, DuPont and Union Carbide accelerated the rapid growth of the polyethylene industry. Fabrication methods were developed for applications in film, pipe, injection molding and blow molding. Polyethylene consumption in 1953 in the United States was about 144 million pounds, which was a 24-fold increase over the 1945 production. For the year 1953, the applications for polyethylene by the fabrication method are summarized in Table 6.1. 

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In the post-World War II years, synthesis attained a different level of sophistication partly as a result of the confluence of five stimuli (1) the formulation of detailed electronic mechanisms for the fundamental organic reactions, (2) the introduction of conformational analysis of organic structures and transition states based on stereochemical principles, (3) the development of spectroscopic and other physical methods for structural analysis, (4) the use of chromatographic methods of analysis and separation, and (5) the discovery and application of new selective chemical reagents. As a result, the period 1945 to 1960 encompassed the synthesis of such complex molecules as vitamin A (O. Isler, 1949), cortisone (R. Woodward, R. Robinson, 1951), strychnine (R. Woodward, 1954), cedrol (G. Stork, 1955), morphine (M. Gates, 1956), reserpine (R. Woodward, 1956), penicillin V (J. Sheehan, 1957), colchicine (A. Eschenmoser, 1959), and chlorophyll (R. Woodward, 1960) (page 5). ... 

This new technology also allowed greater architectural freedom. Post-World War II construction incorporated sealed aluminum and glass facades, or curtain walls. The United Nations Building was the first major post-World War II project to be designed with a curtain wall system and air conditioning. Larger floor cross sections were possible, and interior offices could be created with man-niade environments. 

The structure and energy use of post-World War II commercial buildings was re defined as a direct result of air conditioning. 

Although television dates back to 1927 and was highly publicized during the 1936 Olympics, it was not until post-World War II prosperity that vacuum-tube-based television products reached the mass consumer market. The initial scries of televisions manufactured during the 1950s had screen displays that made the viewer... 

Throughout the 1930s TEL proved itself a profitable product for DuPont, which remained virtually the only TEL producer into the post-World War II period. With no advantage to be gained in further collaboration, DuPont severed its ties with Ethyl Corp. in 1948 and continued to manufacture TEL independently. 

The post-World War II generation was the first to live under the shadow of total and instantaneous annihilation, a reality that—coming on the heels of the holocaust and the massive militai"y horrors of World War II—gave rise to a new nihilism among some philosophers and social thinkers. Psychologists began to probe the possible mental health consequences of... 

Although several of these methods were first applied in the 1950s and 1960s, none would have been possible at their current technical level using the post-World War II technology that gave rise to X-band ESR. In particular ... 

The post-World War II years brought cheaper, mass-produced cars which seemed to have the same features as earlier luxury cars. Europe also moved its car manufacturing into a mass-production industry and introduced more efficient production methods in their factories. 

The treatment of race in the sciences underwent two fundamental changes in the years between the eugenic triumph of 1924 and the post-World War II period culture eclipsed biology as the prime determinant of the social behavior of races, and race relations displaced character-ology as the major field of racial inquiry. Both of these trends significantly revised the race concept in general, and had especially profound impli-... 

It was] a period which probably had as many changes, programs, and problems as any comparable period in history post-World War II the Korean War the Cold War reorganization of Department of Defense reorganizations of Department of the Army the war in Vietnam and major advances in medicine, the sciences, nuclear weapons, missiles and aircraft. The sheer volume and frequency of change alone provided some indication of the magnitude of the task to be performed. From the outset, the research effort proved to be difficult and cumbersome. 

About 25 years ago, a major conference on coal science was held at The Pennsylvania State University. The papers presented at that conference were subsequently published as Coal Science, an out-of-print volume in the Advances in Chemistry Series of the American Chemical Society. Some of the chapters in that volume are still cited in current literature, a testament to the quality and continuing relevance of that work to the field of coal science. The conference organizer, Peter Given, had come to Penn State a few years earlier after a 10-year career with the British Coal Utilization Research Association. Even then. Given had established a reputation as a significant contributor to coal science. In the following years, he came to be recognized as one of the dominant coal scientists of the post-World War II era. 

Confidence in government also characterized the time after World War II and during the Cold War. Over the history of our country it has been seen that one of the legitimate roles for the federal government is to provide for the national defense. There s been a lot of disagreement about many other tasks but not over this one. Military and security needs carried a lot of development throughout the post-World War II period. Of course, the Vietnam War led to less confidence in the government and caused the termination of classified research projects at universities. 

Post World War II, the most influential developments were (Chatt, 1980 Ber-gersen Postgate, 1980) ... 

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