It can be stated with some justification that polymers, because of their mainly synthetic origins, are important because of their applications, perhaps more than in the case of more familiar and conventional materials such as metals and wood, which would exist apart from their use in human activities. The majority of polymers have been synthesized under the impetus of requirements for new and improved properties. The preparative routes to new polymers and blends, and the exploration of their structures and properties constitute absorbing subjects for study, but it is the final application of...