Polymer science was born in the great industrial laboratories of the world of the need to make and understand new kinds of plastics, rubber, adhesives, fibers, and coatings. Only much later did polymer science come to academic life. Perhaps because of its origins, polymer science tends to be more interdisciplinary than most sciences, combining chemistry, chemical engineering, materials, and other fields as well.
Chemically, polymers are long-chain molecules of very high molecular weight, often measured in the hundreds of thousands. For this reason, the term "macromolecules" is frequently used when referring to polymeric materials. The trade literature sometimes refers to polymers as resins, an old term that goes back before the chemical structure of the long chains was understood.
The first polymers used were natural products, especially cotton, starch, proteins, and wool. Beginning early in the twentieth century, synthetic polymers were made. The first polymers of importance, Bakelite and nylon, showed the tremendous possibilities of the new materials. However, the scientists of that day realized that they did not understand many of the relationships between the chemical structures and the physical properties that resulted. The research that ensued forms the basis for physical polymer science.
This book develops the subject of physical polymer science, describing the interrelationships among polymer structure, morphology, and physical and mechanical behavior. Key aspects include molecular weight and molecular weight distribution, and the organization of the atoms down the polymer chain. Many polymers crystallize, and the size, shape, and organization of the