The Frasch process is a drilling process used to recover deeply buried sulfur deposits. It was invented by Herman Frasch (1851-1914), a young chemical engineer from Germany. Frasch came to America to seek his fortune in 1868. The Civil War had just ended, and the American economy had begun to prosper. Shortly after his arrival, Frasch established an industrial laboratory in Philadelphia, and in 1876, he patented a process for making paraffin wax from crude petroleum. This won the attention of the Standard Oil Company, which hired Frasch to work at its Cleveland, Ohio laboratories. It was there that Frasch observed that oil from many wells could not be sold because it contained sulfur compounds. This "sour" oil burned poorly and emitted a strong odor even after it was refined. Frasch found a way to remove these impurities. In his method, which he patented in 1887, oil was distilled...