Nathaniel C. Wyeth (October 24, 1911 – July 4, 1990) was an American

mechanical engineer Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations of ...

and

inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...

. He is best known for creating a variant of

polyethylene terephthalate Polyethylene terephthalate (or poly(ethylene terephthalate), PET, PETE, or the obsolete PETP or PET-P), is the most common thermoplastic polymer resin of the polyester family and is used in fibres for clothing, containers for liquids and foods ...

that could withstand the pressure of carbonated liquids. Made of recyclable PET plastic, lighter than

glass Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling (quenching) of ...

and virtually unbreakable, Wyeth's invention is used widely today for both carbonated and non-carbonated drinks.

Early life

Born in Asgard near Chadds Ford, he displayed an engineering talent throughout his youth. Wyeth held a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

. Wyeth is also known as the brother of painters

Andrew Wyeth Andrew Newell Wyeth ( ; July 12, 1917 – January 16, 2009) was an American visual artist, primarily a realist painter, working predominantly in a regionalist style. He was one of the best-known U.S. artists of the middle 20th century. In his ...

Carolyn Wyeth Carolyn Wyeth ( ; 1909–1994), daughter of N.C. Wyeth and sister of Andrew Wyeth, was a well-known artist in her own right. Her hometown was Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. She worked and taught out of N. C. Wyeth House and Studio. Her nephew, Jamie ...

, and Henriette Wyeth Hurd, the father of musician

Howard Wyeth Howard Pyle Wyeth (April 22, 1944 – March 27, 1996), also known as Howie Wyeth, was an American drummer and pianist. Wyeth is remembered for work with the saxophonist James Moody, the rockabilly singer Robert Gordon, the electric guitarist L ...

, and as the son of artist and illustrator

N. C. Wyeth Newell Convers Wyeth (October 22, 1882 – October 19, 1945), known as N. C. Wyeth, was an American painter and illustrator. He was the pupil of Howard Pyle and became one of America's most well-known illustrators. Wyeth created more than 3,000 ...

. Wyeth often called himself "the other Wyeth" because N.C. and Andrew Wyeth were so well known.

Career

Nathaniel Wyeth joined

DuPont DuPont de Nemours, Inc., commonly shortened to DuPont, is an American multinational chemical company first formed in 1802 by French-American chemist and industrialist Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours. The company played a major role in ...

in 1936 as a field engineer. By 1963 he was the company's first engineering fellow and when he retired in 1976, was DuPont's first senior engineering fellow, the company's highest technical position. In 1967, he pondered whether soda could be stored in

plastic bottle A plastic bottle is a bottle constructed from high-density or low density plastic. Plastic bottles are typically used to store liquids such as water, soft drinks, motor oil, cooking oil, medicine, shampoo, milk, and ink. The size ranges from v ...

s. After experimenting with a plastic detergent bottle that proved incapable of withstanding the forces of pressurized liquids, he realized that a much stronger material would be required. He initially experimented with

polypropylene Polypropylene (PP), also known as polypropene, is a thermoplastic polymer used in a wide variety of applications. It is produced via chain-growth polymerization from the monomer propylene. Polypropylene belongs to the group of polyolefins and ...

, but ultimately settled on

as the material and received the patent in 1973. Wyeth received the 1981

Society of Plastics Engineers About SPE—Inspiring Plastics Professionals SPE—Inspiring Plastics Professionals is a global professional membership organization dedicated to the advancement of knowledge and education for professionals employed in the plastics industry. ...

international award for outstanding achievement, and was inducted into the Society of the Plastics Industry Hall of Fame in 1986. He was a fellow of the

American Society of Mechanical Engineers The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is an American professional association that, in its own words, "promotes the art, science, and practice of multidisciplinary engineering and allied sciences around the globe" via "continuing ...

. Wyeth was the first person ever named senior engineering fellow at DuPont, the company's highest technical position. Nathaniel invented or co-invented twenty-five products. and In 1990, Wyeth was award DuPont's Lavoisier Award for Technical Achievement. Wyeth's other innovations included improvements to manufacturing process, plastics, textiles, electronics and mechanical devices.

Personal life

He married Caroline Pyle in 1937. Local residents were inclined to think Caroline and Wyeth's father,

, carried on a relationship, though biographer David Michaelis found little evidence to suggest it. Caroline died in 1973 and in 1984 Wyeth married Jean Grady. Wyeth and Caroline had six sons: Newell, Howard, N. Convers III,New York Times: "N. C. Wyeth 3d, Edith Gluckman Marry on Coast
July 17, 1972 Andrew, John, and David, and one daughter, Melinda, who died very young. Newell, their oldest, died tragically in 1945 alongside his famous grandfather,

N.C. Wyeth Newell Convers Wyeth (October 22, 1882 – October 19, 1945), known as N. C. Wyeth, was an American painter and illustrator. He was the pupil of Howard Pyle and became one of America's most well-known illustrators. Wyeth created more than 3,000 ...

(Wyeth's father), when their car stalled on a railroad crossing near their home and they were struck by a

milk train Rail terminology is a form of technical terminology. The difference between the American term ''railroad'' and the international term ''railway'' (used by the International Union of Railways and English-speaking countries outside the United Sta ...

Notes

References

MIT Inventor of the Week, Aug. 1998
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External links