View source for Nathaniel Wyeth (inventor)

{{Short description|American inventor, mechanical engineer}}
{{for|the 19th-century inventor|Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Nathaniel C. Wyeth
| image              = Nathaniel C Wyeth.jpg
| image_size         = 180px
| caption            = 
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1911|10|24|mf=y}}
| birth_place        = [[Chadds Ford Township, Pennsylvania|Chadds Ford]], [[Pennsylvania]], U.S.
| death_date         = {{death date and age|1990|7|4|1911|10|24|mf=y}}
| death_place        = 
| occupation         = [[inventor]], [[chemical engineering|chemical engineer]]
| alma mater         = [[University of Pennsylvania]]
| parents            = [[N. C. Wyeth]]
| spouse             = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Caroline Pyle|1937|1973|end=died}}
* Jean Grady
}}
| children           = 7, including [[Howard Wyeth]]
}}
'''Nathaniel C. Wyeth''' (October 24, 1911 &ndash; July 4, 1990) was an American [[mechanical engineering|mechanical engineer]] and [[inventor]]. He is best known for creating a variant of [[polyethylene terephthalate]] that could withstand the pressure of [[carbonation|carbonated liquids]]. Made of [[Recycling of PET Bottles|recyclable PET]] plastic, lighter than [[glass]] and virtually unbreakable, Wyeth's invention is used widely today for both carbonated and non-carbonated drinks.

==Early life and education==
Born in Asgard near [[Chadds Ford Township, Pennsylvania|Chadds Ford]], he displayed an engineering talent throughout his youth. Wyeth held a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the [[University of Pennsylvania]]. Wyeth is also known as the brother of painters [[Andrew Wyeth]], [[Carolyn Wyeth]], and [[Henriette Wyeth|Henriette Wyeth Hurd]], the father of musician [[Howard Wyeth]], and as the son of artist and illustrator [[N. C. Wyeth]].<ref name="Fisk">{{cite web
| author= Fisk, Dean| title= FISKE-L: Re-Nicholas Wyeth / John Fiske & Sara Wyeth| date= August 5, 1998| url= http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/FISKE/1998-08/0902302187| access-date= 2007-02-19}}</ref>

Wyeth often called himself "the other Wyeth" because N.C. and Andrew Wyeth were so well known.<ref name="MIT" />

==Career==
Nathaniel Wyeth joined [[DuPont]] 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 (carbonated drinks) could be stored in [[plastic bottle]]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]], but ultimately settled on [[polyethylene terephthalate]] as the material and received the patent in 1973.

Wyeth received the 1981 [[Society of Plastics Engineers]] international award for outstanding achievement, and was inducted into the Society of the [[Plastics Hall of Fame|Plastics Industry Hall of Fame]] in 1986. He was a fellow of the [[American Society of Mechanical Engineers]].

Wyeth was the first person named senior engineering fellow at DuPont, the company's highest technical position. Nathaniel invented or co-invented twenty-five products.<ref name="MIT">{{cite web
| author= Lemelson-MIT Program
| title= Inventor of the Week Archive: The plastic soda bottle
| date= August 1998
| url= http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/wyeth.html
| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20030404095738/http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/wyeth.html
| url-status= dead
| archive-date= 2003-04-04
| access-date= 2007-02-18
}} and {{cite news
| author= Fowler, Glenn
| title=   N. C. Wyeth, Inventor, Dies at 78; Developed the Plastic Soda Bottle
| newspaper= New York Times
| date= July 7, 1990
| url= https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CEEDE163EF934A35754C0A966958260
| access-date= 2008-03-29
}}</ref>  In 1990, Wyeth was award DuPont's [[Lavoisier Medal#Dupont|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 ([[Howard Pyle]]'s niece) in 1937.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=1937-01-25 |title=Milestones, Jan. 25, 1937 |language=en-US |magazine=Time |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,770569,00.html |access-date=2023-02-16 |issn=0040-781X}}</ref> Local residents were inclined to think Caroline and Wyeth's father, [[N. C. Wyeth]], carried on a relationship, though biographer [[David Michaelis]] found little evidence to suggest it.<ref name="Gopnik-1" /> Caroline died in 1973 and in 1984 Wyeth married Jean Grady.<ref name="MIT" />

Wyeth and Caroline had six sons.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1972/07/17/archives/n-c-wyeth-3d-edith-gluckman-marry-on-coast.html?_r=0 New York Times: "N. C. Wyeth 3d, Edith Gluckman Marry on Coast] July 17, 1972</ref> and one daughter.<ref name=NYT>{{cite news
| author= New York Times | title= Howard Wyeth, 51, A Rock Drummer| date= March 29, 1996| url= https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9806E0DA1539F93AA15750C0A960958260
| access-date= 2008-03-29| work=The New York Times}}</ref> Newell, their oldest child, died in 1945 alongside his grandfather, [[N.C. Wyeth]] (Wyeth's father), when their car stalled on a railroad crossing near their home and they were struck by a [[milk train]].<ref name=Gopnik-1>{{cite news| author= Gopnik, Adam| title=  ''"Pictures Great," His Publisher Told Him'', review of ''N. C. Wyeth'' by David Michaelis| newspaper= New York Times| date= November 15, 1998
| url= https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E06E0DD123EF936A25752C1A96E958260| access-date= 2007-02-18}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Engineering|Biography}}
* [[Wyeth (name)|Wyeth]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20030404095738/http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/wyeth.html MIT Inventor of the Week, Aug. 1998]
*{{cite news
| title=   Nathaniel Wyeth Weds Jean Grady
| author= The New York Times
| work= The New York Times
| date= August 26, 1984
| url= https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9506E5D91338F935A1575BC0A962948260
| access-date= 2007-02-22
}}
*{{cite news
| author= Fowler, Glenn
| title=   N. C. Wyeth, Inventor, Dies at 78; Developed the Plastic Soda Bottle
| newspaper= The New York Times
| date= July 7, 1990
| url= https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CEEDE163EF934A35754C0A966958260
| access-date= 2008-03-29
}}
*{{cite web
| author= Nathaniel C. Wyeth
| title= US Patent 3733309 ''Biaxially Oriented Poly(ethy.ene terephthalate) Bottle'', via Google.com
| orig-date=November 30, 1970
| date = May 15, 1973
| version = Issued
| url= http://www.google.com/patents?vid=USPAT3733309
| archive-url= https://archive.today/20130125074711/http://www.google.com/patents?vid=USPAT3733309
| url-status=dead
| archive-date= 2013-01-25
| access-date= 2007-02-19
}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927192104/http://www.plasticshalloffame.org/articles.php?articleId=134 Nathaniel C. Wyeth] at the "Plastics Academy Hall of Fame".
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060902151715/http://www.poly-eng.uakron.edu/Hall_Of_Fame/inductees/wyeth.htm Nathaniel C. Wyeth] at the "Polymer Processing Hall of Fame".

{{DuPont}}
{{Andrew Wyeth}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wyeth, Nathaniel C.}}
[[Category:American inventors]]
[[Category:American mechanical engineers]]
[[Category:University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science alumni]]
[[Category:Wyeth family]]
[[Category:1911 births]]
[[Category:1990 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Chadds Ford Township, Pennsylvania]]