Patent application

By: William Burton

Date: January 7, 1913

Source: Burton, William. "Manufacture of Gasolene." U.S. patent 1,049,667. 1913. Available online at http://www.uspto.gov/patft/index.html (accessed March 20, 2003).

About the Author: William Merriam Burton (1865–1954) was born in Cleveland, Ohio. He received a B.S. from Western Reserve University in 1886 and a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University in 1889. Following his education Burton went to work for the Standard Oil Company. At Standard Oil he went from chemist to refinery superintendent, company director, vice president, and finally in 1918, president. He served as president of Standard Oil from 1918 until he retired in1927.

Introduction

Petroleum is one of the most important natural resources in the world. Petroleum and other fossil fuels were...