According to Yergin, who worked as a superintendent of a school system in New Orleans and single handedly started the oil industry?

According to Yergin, who worked as a superintendent of a school system in New Orleans and single handedly started the oil industry?

• A. Samuel D. Andrews
• B. Thomas A. Edison
• C. John S. Williams
• D. George Bissell

Answer: (D)

In Yergin’s account, the birth of the modern oil industry comes from someone who saw the commercial potential of petroleum and pulled together the money, people, and testing needed to turn crude oil into a lamp fuel. That key figure is George Bissell. He organized and financed the early venture, formed the first oil company, and recruited the efforts that led to the drilling of the first successful oil well in Titusville in 1859. His role was one of leadership and vision—creating the conditions for the industry to take off—rather than personally performing the technical work. Thomas Edison is associated with electricity, not the birth of the oil industry. The other names don’t occupy the same pivotal financing-and-organizing role that Yergin highlights for Bissell. The reference to a school superintendent in New Orleans isn’t the point Yergin makes about starting the industry; the emphasis is on Bissell’s initiative and his impact on launching the petroleum era.

In Yergin’s account, the birth of the modern oil industry comes from someone who saw the commercial potential of petroleum and pulled together the money, people, and testing needed to turn crude oil into a lamp fuel. That key figure is George Bissell. He organized and financed the early venture, formed the first oil company, and recruited the efforts that led to the drilling of the first successful oil well in Titusville in 1859. His role was one of leadership and vision—creating the conditions for the industry to take off—rather than personally performing the technical work.

Thomas Edison is associated with electricity, not the birth of the oil industry. The other names don’t occupy the same pivotal financing-and-organizing role that Yergin highlights for Bissell. The reference to a school superintendent in New Orleans isn’t the point Yergin makes about starting the industry; the emphasis is on Bissell’s initiative and his impact on launching the petroleum era.