Life in the Fast Lane

Speed has sped back into American culture

By NICOLAS RASMUSSEN

Gordon A. Alles was hoping to discover a profitable new allergy pill when, in 1929, he created and first tried amphetamine. The drug did not do much for his sniffles, but it did make the freelance chemist cheerful, talkative at dinner with friends, and inconveniently alert through the night. Uncertain...