Swords or plowshares?

It is the story of David Thornton, Ph. D., a brilliant chemist, but a very troubled young man. David had everything stacked against him: his grandfather was blackmailed; his father died before he was born; his stepfather was a scumbag; and his best friend was expelled from Stanford University. But, with the help of plans that he stole from a WW2 German munitions factory, he built his own factory to make fertilizer ("plowshares"), not explosives ("swords"). He fed millions, and killed nobody. And, redeemed by "the love of a good woman", he became a happy husband and father; and started a family that, in time, (see book 2) gave the lesbian couples a wonderful idea.