(See Cover) Along the banks of the meandering Brandywine River, set on a bluff that overlooks nearby Wilmington, stands a cluster of buildings whose occupants are true men of mystery. Many of them work in perpetual semidarkness and others in rooms that seem as barren as the face of Mars. Some spend their days poring over books and others sit for hours staring through picture windows at the 115 acres of their campus-like enclave. The aura of the place is one of uncertainty, as if no one quite knows what will happen next. No one does know. That is what makes the Experimental Station of E. I. du Pont de Nemours one of the world's most exciting places in which to work.
Du Pont has become the world's largest chemical company by creating an atmosphere in which surprises are especially likely to occur. In the Experimental Station and dozens of other Du Pont laboratories across the U.S., scientists are exploring the mysteries that teased Aristotle, baffled Francis Bacon and inspired the ancient alchemists to try, as John Milton put it, "to turn metals of drossiest ore to perfect gold." The alchemists never succeeded in making gold, but Du Font's button-down chemists are doing something nearly as good. By rearranging the molecules of thin air, plain water, grimy coal and crude oil, they are not only transforming and enriching the fabric of daily life but laying the foundations for new industries. Lately they have been so successful that Du Pont, the oldest big name in U.S. business, is entering a new era of change and discovery that has stirred up competitors and delighted Wall Street.
Windfall. Last week Du Pont created a stock market flurry by freeing itself of a possession that has proved a distinctly mixed blessing. Meeting in the company's 13-story, Victorian-style headquarters in Wilmington, the directors decided to distribute the final one-third of Du Pont's 63 million shares of General Motors stock among its own shareholders early next year. The directors thus complied with a 1957 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that held that Du Font's ownership of G.M. stock violated the anti-trust laws. Getting rid of the shares under a court order, Du Pont has already given its stockholders .86 share of G.M. for every share of Du Pont held, is due to divest itself by February of all its G.M. stock, most of which it bought as an investment between 1917 and 1935 for $130 million (present worth: $6 billion).