From pink flamingos and vinyl records to kevlar vests and artificial hearts to hula hoops and credit cards, plastic has invaded every aspect of modern life. Surpassing wood, cotton, steel and glass in all categories (except possibly good taste), this nearly indestructible material is the most revolutionary substance man has ever known. Tracing the obscure origins of synthetic materials, this book presents a century's worth of inventors, speculators and designers who transformed society and brought in the plastic invasion. Included are the early celluloid pioneer John Wesley Harding who pursued a quixotic quest to create the perfect man-made billiard ball and Wallace Carothers, inventor of nylon, who commited suicide just as the sexual revolution was about to be ushered in by his creation - nylon stockings.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Perhaps Dustin Hoffman should have paid attention to that unsolicited investment advice in "The Graduate." Plastics really are the future. Indeed these smooth oil-based synthetic polymers, available in a spectrum from rainbow-colored through raindrop transparent, are already so ubiquitous in our lives that we barely notice them. Expertly and entertainingly, Stephen Fenichell draws our attention to these shape-shifting substances; he tells us the names (do you know your polypropylene from your butadiene?), and the social history and cultural legacy of a diverse family of materials that has been given a bad rap--or maybe "wrap" is the word.
From Publishers Weekly
This compelling, often surprising saga of the invention of plastic and its transformation of society will rivet your attention, challenge your preconceptions and open up new vistas of science, history and popular culture. Unlike detractors who dismiss plastic as tacky, cheap or environmentally unsound, Fenichell, a freelance writer, celebrates its unsung role in modern life. Polyethylene airborne-radar insulation (which the British had and the Nazis didn't) helped the Allies win the air war over Europe. Computer discs and audio- and videotape make possible the information age, while plastic hearts and limbs prolong and improve human life. Fenichell unreels a resilient tale of scientific discovery, tragedies, rare ingenuity, serendipity. Upstate New York printer John Wesley Hyatt failed in his quest to make the perfect non-ivory billiard ball, but instead, in 1868, created the first thermoplastic, the ideal material for the coming Machine Age. Depressive Harvard chemist Wallace Carothers invented synthetic silk (nylon) in 1934, but committed suicide three years later, obsessed with his failure as a scientist. Tracking vinyl, rayon, Teflon, Bakelite, polyester and so forth, Fenichell carries the story to pop art, Tupperware, environmental artist Christo's outdoor wrappings and new biodegradable plastics used in ecologically fashionable fibers, dissolvable films and recyclable bottles. $20,000 ad/promo.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent read,
This review is from: Plastic: The Making of a Synthetic Century (Hardcover)
One would expect a history of plastic to be full of dreary minutia, of interest only to professional chemists. You couldn't be more wrong. The author is to be congratulated for taking a topic that could be dull and turning it into a historical account of how these substances have impacted our lives. Don't get me wrong, I am no lover of plastic but there are applications that require materials with the properties found in modern plastics. You just don't realize how crucial these substances are until you read this book.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superb history of plastic,
By A Customer
This review is from: Plastic: The Making of a Synthetic Century (Paperback)
Ever wonder about where things come from, how did they discover nylon, rayon, bakelite, tupperware, saran wrap? This book has the answers. Very readable.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I have one word for you...,
By
This review is from: Plastic: The Making of a Synthetic Century (Paperback)
This is a scholarly, tongue in cheek, thoroughly enjoyable peon to the most despicable of substances. Histories of science and industry could learn much from Mr. Fenichill's pleasing blend of knowledge and humor. This is one of my favorite books.
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