The first pioneer in the plastic development was John Wesley Hyatt. He was a New York printer that was competing to find a substitute for ivory in billiard balls to win a $10,000 prize offered by Phelan and Collender.1 Although Hyatt didn't find a substitute for billiard balls, he did make a very important discovery. He invented Celluloid, a chemically treated natural base plastic, which was the first of its kind in 1863. Hyatt mixed together collodion and camphor and this mixture yielded Celluloid.2 Celluloid was too brittle for use in billiard balls, but was used in ladies' combs and gentlemen's collars. Celluloid was later introduced to Eastman Kodak Company as a photographic film-base in 1884.

In 1907 Leo Baekeland, a Belgian chemist who worked in New York City, created the world's first synthetic, or made-to-order plastic. Baekeland was looking for

Almost all plastics are derived from natural gas, coal, or petroleum. Chemists break down crude oil into simple molecules made of hydrogen and carbon atoms.9 They then string these molecules into long molecular chains, which is a relatively easy process. Hundreds or possibly thousands of carbon atoms are strung together and are surrounded by a compliment of other atoms. These monomers, small molecules, combine into polymers, repeating units of monomers, by a series of reactions that may occur spontaneously or may be directed by chemists. (Appendix B). Monomers bond into polymers by using single bonds that may not have anything attached to it, or by using single bonds that were made available for that use. Single bonds are the most stable of all the Carbon bonds because Carbon atoms are most at ease when its four bonds project in 4 different directions. Double or triple bonds are more unstable because the additional bonds would be more strained, thus making them more reactive. A single bond may be made available when a double bond separates and one of the original 2 bonds takes over the original task.10 The other, newly separated, bond links the monomer to other monomers which all make up the polymer. There would be no additional changes made to the monomer. They would all keep the same atoms it had before and would not gain or lose any. Another way for monomers to bond together to make polymers is to change chemically. Atoms are removed from a monomer, setting a bond free that had formerly grasped that atom. Hydrogen, Chlorine, as well as small hydroxide groups are usually involved in this condensation polymerization.11 Polymerization may occur spontaneously if there is some outside urging. Light or heat energy, as well as Oxygen present in the air will accelerate the bonding arrangements.12

In conclusion, whether people realize it or not, they are surrounded by a world made up of both long names and long chains. This is the world of plastics, polymers, and giant molecules. Without plastics life as we know it today would be close to impossible. There would be no automobiles to take anyone anywhere, or simple luxuries that make today's life better. There would be no hairspray to keep people's hair looking nice and spiffy, and there would be no toys for little children to play with. This is why people must understand how important plastics are.

Plastics are normally resistant to environmental corrosion, and are light in weight. Plastics are also good thermal and electrical insulators. With appropriate reinforcement, plastics can exhibit strength-to-weight ratios greater than the ratios of steel.13

In 1938 Du Pont added to the plastic frontier again. Roy Plunkett and Jack Rebok filled several small cylinders with tetrafluoroethylene gas, and the next morning noticed a white powder in one of the cylinders. This white, waxy powder was Teflon, which is more stable than the tetrafluoroethylene gas it was derived from. This is because Teflon is composed entirely of single bonds, where the tetrafluoroethylene gas has several double bonds. Full scale production of polytetrafluoroethylene, or Teflon, began in 1948.7

There are two different groups of plastics. These two groups are the thermoplastics and the thermoset plastics. The thermoplastics are easier to fabricate than the thermosets, but thermosets offer superior dimensional stability. The thermoplastic family is composed of Acetal, Acrylic, Cellulosic, Fluorocarbon, Polyamide, Polyolefin, Styrene, and Vinyl plastics. The thermoset family includes the Amino, Casein, Epoxy, Phenolic, Polyester, Silicone, and Urethane plastics.14 (Appendix C).

Thermoplastics of uniform cross-sectional area are formed by extrusion. Molding compound is continuously conveyed down a heated barrel by a rotating screw. The molten plastic is forced through a die, which will form its final shape. The finished item is then cooled and solidified in a water bath.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Silicone Urethane, Polyvinylchloride PVC, Appendix Acetal, Fluorine Fluorine, PVC Flame-retardants, Boron Graphite, Appendix Blow, Appendix Monomers, West Germany, Appendix Continuous, specific gravity, plastics specific, low frequency currents, plastics specific gravity, low frequency, frequency currents, heat resistance, dimensional stability, single bonds, impact strength, amino plastics, molding method, petroleum natural gas, insulators low frequency, excellent dimensional stability,
Approximate Word count = 3943
Approximate Pages = 16 (250 words per page double spaced)