Originally aired during the week of May 25, 1998
Was there ever a more famous piece of career counseling in the history of cinema than when young Dustin Hoffman was advised to get into the plastics industry in the movie
The Graduate? It's hard to imagine a more ubiquitous substance than plastic. Without it, there would be no floppy disks, contact lenses, Tupperware, cellephane tape, videocassettes, shrink wrap, and just about a million other things you could name. And, of course, there would be no Frisbees. The term "plastic" is from Greek, meaning something that can be molded. Humans have been molding things for centuries, from clay to metals like copper, bronze and iron. Since the middle of the 19th century, chemists have created a wide array of organic substances in the laboratory. The resulting plastics are not only strong and durable, but are also lightweight, and can be shaped in an infinite number of ways.
Molecules - in turn, made up by atoms - are the building blocks of everything around us. Some materials are made up of gigantic mega-molecules, formed by thousands of smaller ones joined in long chains. These are called polymers and plastics, formed by heat or pressure, are artificial polymers. Petroleum, natural gas, or coal are the basic ingredients for the industrial process. These mega-molecules make it possible to create an almost endless variety of stuff. Nylon, which became synonymous with ladies stockings, was created in 1934. Other new varieties including polyurethane and polystyrene were developed in the late 30's. By 1941 the first all-plastic car body was produced, and in 1957 the world's first plastic house went on display. Sorry, we don't know if it's still on the market.
One of the pioneers of the plastics industry was American John Wesley Hyatt, who entered a competition for a $10,000 prize offered to the person who came up with the best material for making billiard balls. Since billiard balls were made of ivory at the time, elephants were vulnerable to hordes of cue-wielding pool players. In 1869, Hyatt used pressure and heat to create a cellulose nitrate referred to as Celluloid. It made an excellent billiard ball, with a few fatal drawbacks. For one thing, it turned out the balls were highly flammable, which added a lot of excitement to the game, given the number of smokers who played pool. Hyatt failed to win the prize. But he was later inducted into the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame (there is such a place). And his material celluloid found all sorts of commercials uses, like eyeglass frames, combs, shirt collars, dentures, and photographic film.
Early pioneers of plastics had lots of fun mixing different substances together and then stepping back to see all the cool things that happened. Belgian chemist Leo Baekland was trying to make a synthetic shellac when he learned how to control the chemical reaction caused when phenol (a poisonous acidic compound) is mixed with formaldehyde (a pungent, irritating gas). The result was a blackish substance he named Bakelite, a word that sounds startlingly like his own last name! The substance didn't work very well as a shellac. But it could be molded by machine (rather than crafted by hand) and it was resistant to decay. Bakelite's insulating properties made it an ideal material for hairdryers, radio cabinets, ashtrays and cameras. Bakelite also had the benefit of looking similar to wood, so was a popular choice for car dashboards and knobs.
Plastics can be soft or hard, they won't rust or rot, and they can be molded into an infinite number of forms. They can be lightweight, and tremendously strong at the same time. A miracle material? Recipients of artificial hearts certainly have reason to believe so. But plastics are not without their drawbacks. Since plastics are petroleum products, the industry requires new fossil reserves to be extracted all the time. Plastic goods are usually cheap and convenient, but many researchers say this has lead to a "throwaway mentality" of modern consumers. While plastics can be reused, the EPA estimates that 14 to 28 percent of loose trash is plastic. When compressed and layered into a landfill, that percentage will drop. But the plastic we throw away will also take a long, long time to biodegrade.
