"I am inclined to think that the
development of polymerization is, perhaps, the biggest thing chemistry
has done, where it has had the biggest effect on everyday life. The world
would be a totally different place without artificial fibres, plastics,
elastomers, etc. Even in the field of electronics, what would you
do without insulation? And there you come back to polymers again."
Lord Todd, president of the
Royal Society of London (1980) |