Title	High Performance Polymers: Their Origin and Development [electronic resource] : Proceedings of the Symposium on the History of High Performance Polymers at the American Chemical Society Meeting held in New York, April 15-18, 1986 / edited by Raymond B. Seymour, Gerald S. Kirshenbaum
Imprint	Dordrecht : Springer Netherlands, 1986
Connect to	http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-7073-4
Descript	XVI, 462 p. online resource

According to Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe's (1740-1832) Mineralogy and Geology, "The history of science is science." A sesquicentennial later, one may state that the history of high performance polymers is the science of these important engineering polymers. Many of the inventors of these superior materials of construction have stood on the thresholds of the new and have recounted their experiences (trials, tribulations and satisfactions) in the symposium and in their chapters in this book. Those who have not accepted the historical approach in the past, should now recognize the value of the historical viewpoint for studying new developments, such as general purpose polymers and, to a greater degree, the high performance polymers. To put polymer science into its proper perspective, its worth recalling that historically, the ages of civilization have been named according to the materials that dominated that period. First there was the Stone Age eventually followed by the Tin, Bronze, Iron and Steel Ages. Today many historians consider us living in the Age of Synthetics: Polymers, Fibers, Plastics, Elastomers, Films, Coatings, Adhesives, etc. It is also interesting to note that in the early 1980's, Lord Todd, then President of the Royal Society of Chemistry was asked what has been chemistry's biggest contribution to society. He felt that despite all the marvelous medical advances, chemistry's biggest contribution was the development of polymeriยญ zation. Man's knowledge of polymer science is so new that Professor Herman F

High Performance Polymers โ{128}{148} Natural and Synthetic -- Engineering Plastics: The Concept that Launched an Industry -- Engineering Thermoplastics -- Polyamides -- The History and Development of Nylon-66 -- History and Development of Nylon 6 -- The History of Development of Nylons 11 and 12 -- Polyesters -- History โ{128}{148} Aromatic Polycarbonates -- The History of Poly(Butylene Terephthalate) Molding Resins -- Injection Moldable PET -- History of Polyarylates -- Acetals -- The History of Acetal Homopolymer -- Acetal Copolymer, A Historical Perspective -- Styrenics -- A Path to ABS Thermoplastics -- Styrene-Maleic Anhydride-Vinyl Monomer Terpolymers and Blends -- Sulfur-Containing Polymers -- History of Polyphenylene Sulfide -- The Development of Polysulfone and Other Polyarylethers -- Polysulfone โ{128}{148} Early Market Development Activities -- Discovery and Development of the โ{128}{156}Victrexโ{128}{157} Polyarylethersulphones -- Polyaryletherketone -- Discovery and Development of the โ{128}{156}Victrexโ{128}{157} Polyaryletherketone PEEK -- Polyetherimides -- Discovery and Development of Polyetherimides -- Blends and Alloys -- Discovery and Commercialization of Norylยฎ Resins -- Xenoyยฎ and Norylยฎ GTX Engineering Thermoplastic Blends -- History and Development of Interpenetrating Polymer Networks -- Liquid Crystalline Polymers -- Industrial Development of Thermotropic Polyesters -- Early Work on Thermotropic Liquid Crystalline Polymers Having a Rigid-Flexible Regularly Alternating Structure in the Main Chain -- Fluoroplastics -- The History of Polytetrafluoroethylene: Discovery and Development -- Polytetrafluoroethylene: History of its Development and Some Recent Advances -- Development of Thermoplastic Fluoropolymers -- Development of Kynar Polyvinylidene Fluoride -- Thermosets -- History and Development of Epoxy Resins -- Cyanate Esters โ{128}{148} High Performance Resins -- Polyimides -- UV/EB Curing Technology: A Short History -- Fibers -- Carbon Fibers, from Light Bulbs to Outer Space -- History and Development of Polybenzimidazoles -- High Performance Elastomers -- High Performance Elastomers -- History of Silicone Elastomers -- Advances in Fluoroelastomers -- PEBAXยฎ Polyether Block Amide โ{128}{148} A New Family of Engineering Thermoplastic Elastomers -- Engineering Polyester Elastomers and the Future for TPEโ{128}{153}s -- High Barrier Packaging Materials -- PET โ{128}{148} A Global Perspective -- Ethylene Vinyl Alcohol Copolymers -- Indices -- Author Index -- Company Index