Word: fieser
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After trying out many combinations of elements, Fieser hit on a combination of naphthanate and palmatate, which was seven times as effective as thermite. He shortened the name to napalm so that it could be easily pronounced...
...Fieser talked to his superiors about incendiaries, and they agreed to take him off of poison gases. He immediately went to work, experimenting with various jelled fuels...
...next few years were spent testing napalm and developing new uses for it. Fieser performed test burnings and explosions in the Harvard labs and occasionally outside of Soldier's Field, though the invention remained a closely guarded secret...
...military started using napalm during the middle of 1942, and by the end of the war was using 75 million pounds a year. Meanwhile, Fieser kept experimenting. Harvard was still paying his salary, although he was working exclusively for the government. His work was still top secret, and he was spending a lot of time traveling to army bases...
...Fieser got quite proficient at making napalm. "It's quite simple," he said. "You just take gasoline, sprinkle in some powder, and stir. First it turns into a mixture the consistency of applesauce, and then you let it sit a while and it turns into a thick, tough gel." He pulled a vial of napalm from one of his office shelves; it looks like dried yellow glue. Fieser said that although it was made 30 years ago it would still burn...