A chemist named Leo Baekeland sought an alternative to shellac in 1907. His research led to Bakelite, the first synthetic ...

Made of a combination of phenol and formaldehyde, Bakelite is a type of plastic that became popular during the 1930s and 40s as a material not only for jewelry, but for other consumer goods like ...

Polymers revolutionized materials science by enabling engineered molecular structures, leading to innovations in manufacturing, medicine, and sustainability.

That question, asked of Times Square visitors, opens a new documentary that provides the answer: it was the first synthetic compound, which led to plastics. Invented in 1907, the heat-resistant, ...

All Things Bakelite: The Age of Plastic is a 56-minute film about Bakelite, the first totally synthetic plastic, invented in 1907 by Leo Baekeland. Prior to inventing this world-changing material, ...