NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.

This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.

Support for this project was provided by the National Science Foundation, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Department of Army, Department of Energy (Grant No. DE-FG05-92ER-45478), E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Department of the Navy, and the Basic Science Fund of the National Academy of Sciences, whose contributors include the AT&T Foundation, Atlantic Richfield Foundation, BP America, Dow Chemical Company, E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, IBM Corporation, Merck and Company, Inc., Monsanto Company, and Shell Oil Companies Foundation.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Polymer science and engineering : the shifting research frontiers / Committee on Polymer Science and Engineering, Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology, Commission on Physical Sciences, Mathematics, and Applications, National Research Council.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Polymers—Research. I. National Research Council (U.S.). Committee on Polymer Science and Engineering.

QD281.P6P635 1994

668.9—dc20 94-21613

CIP