Dow, Herbert H

Dow, Herbert H(enry)

(born Feb. 26, 1866, Belleville, Ont., Can.—died Oct. 15, 1930, Rochester, Minn., U.S.) U.S. inventor and manufacturer. After attending college in Cleveland, Dow developed and patented electrolytic methods (the Dow process) for extracting bromine from brines (concentrated water solutions of salts). In 1895 he founded the Dow Chemical Co. to electrolyze brine for chlorine, used in insecticides. He was the first U.S. producer of iodine (which he also extracted from brine). He eventually was granted some 65 patents as his company became one of the world's leading chemical manufacturers.