Editing Napalm (section)

== Development ==
The development of napalm was precipitated by the use of jellied gasoline mixtures by the [[Allies of World War II|Allied forces]] during [[World War II]].<ref name="PATRv6">{{cite book |last1=Fedoroff |first1=Basil T. |url=https://archive.org/details/DTIC_ADA011845/mode/2up |title=Encyclopedia of Explosives and Related Items |last2=Sheffield |first2=Oliver E. |publisher=Picatinny Arsenal |year=1974 |volume=6 |location=Morris County |pages=F56–F58 |chapter=Flame Throwers—Liquids and Gels |lccn=61-61759 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/DTIC_ADA011845/page/n437 |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> [[Latex]], used in these early forms of incendiary devices, became scarce, since [[natural rubber]] was almost impossible to obtain after the [[Imperial Japanese Army|Japanese army]] captured the rubber plantations in [[British Malaya|Malaya]], [[Dutch Indies|Indonesia]], [[French Indochina|Vietnam]], and [[Thailand]].

This shortage of natural rubber prompted [[chemist]]s at US companies such as [[DuPont]] and [[Standard Oil of New Jersey]], and researchers at [[Harvard University]], to develop factory-made alternatives: [[Synthetic rubber|artificial rubber]] for all uses, including vehicle tires, tank tracks, gaskets, hoses, medical supplies and rain clothing. A team of chemists led by [[Louis Fieser]] at Harvard University was the first to develop synthetic napalm during 1942.<ref name="UofBristol">{{cite web |year=2001 |title=Napalm |url=http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/webprojects2001/wright/napalm.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030917002422/https://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/webprojects2001/wright/napalm.htm |archive-date=2003-09-17 |access-date=2024-11-24 |website=chm.bris.ac.uk |publisher=University of Bristol}}</ref> "The production of napalm was first entrusted to Nuodex Products, and by the middle of April 1942 they had developed a brown, dry powder that was not sticky by itself, but when mixed with gasoline turned into an extremely sticky and flammable substance." One of Fieser's colleagues suggested adding [[phosphorus]] to the mix which increased the "ability to penetrate deeply [...] into the [[Muscle|musculature]], where it would continue to burn day after day."<ref name="Lindqvist 2001 105">{{cite book |last=Lindqvist |first=Sven |author-link=Sven Lindqvist |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofbombing0000lind_e5k9 |title=A History of Bombing |publisher=The New Press |year=2001 |isbn=978-1-56584-625-8 |location=New York |page=105 |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}</ref>

On 4 July 1942, the first test occurred on the football field near the [[Harvard Business School]].<ref name="Lindqvist 2001 105"/> Tests under operational conditions were carried out at [[Jefferson Proving Ground]] on condemned farm buildings and subsequently at [[Dugway Proving Ground]] on buildings designed and constructed to represent those to be found in [[German Village (Dugway Proving Ground)|German]] and [[Japanese Village (Dugway Proving Ground)|Japanese towns]].<ref name="Noyes">{{cite book |title=Science in World War II: Chemistry |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |year=1948 |editor-last=Noyes |editor-first=W.A. Jr. |location=Boston |pages=392–393}}</ref> This new mixture of chemicals was first approved for use on the front lines in 1943.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Guillaume |first=Marine |date=December 2016 |title=Napalm in US Bombing Doctrine and Practice, 1942-1975 |url=https://apjjf.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/article-1253.pdf |journal=The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus |volume=14 |issue=23 |pages=1–15}}</ref>

<!-- This paragraph involves production, not development; doesn't belong here but don't know where else to move it too...

From 1965 to 1969, the [[Dow Chemical Company]] manufactured napalm for the American armed forces.<ref name=":0" /> After news reports of napalm's deadly and disfiguring effects were published, Dow Chemical experienced [[boycott]]s of its products, and its recruiters for new chemists, [[chemical engineering|chemical engineer]]s, etc., graduating from college were subject to campus boycotts and protests.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://1967.wisc.edu/ |title=A Turning Point |author=University of Wisconsin-Madison |date=2017 |access-date= 26 October 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Worland |first=Gayle |date=8 October 2017 |title=50 years ago, 'Dow Day' left its mark on Madison |url=https://host.madison.com/wsj/article_47f7dc75-e30a-5a16-8cf1-044eebc66f18.html |access-date=26 October 2017 |magazine=Wisconsin State Journal}}</ref> The management of the company decided that its "first obligation was the government".<ref>[http://www2.vcdh.Virginia.edu/PVCC/mbase/docs/napalm.html "Napalm History"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111006134128/http://www2.vcdh.virginia.edu/PVCC/mbase/docs/napalm.html |date=2011-10-06 }}  Virginia Center for Digital History</ref> Meanwhile, napalm became a symbol for the [[Vietnam War]].<ref>[http://www2.vcdh.Virginia.edu/PVCC/mbase/docs/napalm.html Napalm] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111006134128/http://www2.vcdh.virginia.edu/PVCC/mbase/docs/napalm.html |date=6 October 2011 }}. vcdh.virginia.edu. Retrieved on 11 February 2010.</ref>-->