Ernest Solvay, philanthropist and organizer of the world-famous Solvay conferences on physics, discovered a profitable way of making soda ash in 1861. Together with a handful of associates, he laid the foundations of the Solvay company, which successfully branched out into other chemicals,...

Machine generated contents note: Part I. The Pioneering Years (1863-1914): The Quest for a Leadership and the First Stages of the Internationalization: 1. First steps: when vision and reality meet; 2. A multinational pioneer; 3. Reaching a dominant position; 4. Labor organization, social policy,...

"The history of innovation in the chemical industry offers many insights for accelerating energy innovation. In this chapter, we begin by laying out the early history of the chemical industry for an overview of the role innovation has played in its development. We then explore three noteworthy...