viii Preface to the Ist Edition The most subjective of the words which (I hope)describe this book is "interesting."The fascinating behavior of polymers themselves,the clever experiments of laboratory researchers,and the elegant work of the theoreticians add up to an interesting total.I have tried to tell about these topics with clarity and enthusiasm,and in such a way as to make them intelligible to students.I can only hope that the reader agrees with my assessment of what is interesting. This book was written with the student in mind.Even though "student"encompasses persons with a wide range of backgrounds,interests,and objectives;these are different than the corre- sponding experiences and needs of researchers.The following features have been included to assist the student: 1. Over 50 solved example problems are sprinkled throughout the book. 2. Exercises are included at the end of each chapter which are based on data from the original literature. 3. Concise reviews of pertinent aspects of thermodynamics,kinetics,spectrophotometry,etc.are presented prior to developing applications of these topics to polymers. Theoretical models and mathematical derivations are developed in enough detail to be comprehensible to the student reader.Only rarely do I "pull results out of a hat,"and I scrupulously avoid saying "it is obvious that..." Generous cross-referencing and a judicious amount of repetition have been included to help unify a book which spans quite a wide range of topics. 6.SI units have been used fairly consistently throughout,and attention is paid to the matter of units whenever these become more than routine in complexity. The book is divided into three parts of three chapters each,after an introductory chapter which contains information that is used throughout the book. In principle,the three parts can be taken up in any order without too much interruption in continuity.Within each of the parts there is more carryover from chapter to chapter,so rearranging the sequence of topics within a given part is less convenient.The book contains more material than can be covered in an ordinary course.Chapter 1 plus two of the three parts contain about the right amount of material for one term.In classroom testing the material,I allowed the class to decide- while we worked on Chapter 1-which two of the other parts they wished to cover;this worked very well. Material from Chapter 1 is cited throughout the book,particularly the discussion of statistics.In this connection,it might be noted that statistical arguments are developed in less detail further along in the book as written.This is one of the drawbacks of rearranging the order in which the topics are covered.Chapters 2 through 4 are concerned with the mechanical properties of bulk polymers,properties which are primarily responsible for the great practical importance of poly- mers.Engineering students are likely to have both a larger interest and a greater familiarity with these topics.Chapers 5 through 7 are concerned with the preparation and properties of several broad classes of polymers.These topics are closer to the interests of chemistry majors.Chapters 8 through 10 deal with the solution properties of polymers.Since many of the techniques described have been applied to biopolymers,these chapters will have more appeal to students of biochem- istry and molecular biology. Let me conclude by acknowledging the contributions of those who helped me with the preparation of this book.I wish to thank Marilyn Steinle for expertly typing the manuscript.My appreciation also goes to Carol Truett who skillfully transformed my (very)rough sketches into effective illustrations.Lastly,my thanks to Ron Manwill for preparing the index and helping me with the proofreading.Finally,let me acknowledge that some errors and/or obscurities will surely elude my efforts to eliminate them.I would appreciate reports about these from readers so that these mistakes can eventually be eliminated. Paul C.HiemenzThe most subjective of the words which (I hope) describe this book is ‘‘interesting.’’ The fascinating behavior of polymers themselves, the clever experiments of laboratory researchers, and the elegant work of the theoreticians add up to an interesting total. I have tried to tell about these topics with clarity and enthusiasm, and in such a way as to make them intelligible to students. I can only hope that the reader agrees with my assessment of what is interesting. This book was written with the student in mind. Even though ‘‘student’’ encompasses persons with a wide range of backgrounds, interests, and objectives; these are different than the corre￾sponding experiences and needs of researchers. The following features have been included to assist the student: 1. Over 50 solved example problems are sprinkled throughout the book. 2. Exercises are included at the end of each chapter which are based on data from the original literature. 3. Concise reviews of pertinent aspects of thermodynamics, kinetics, spectrophotometry, etc. are presented prior to developing applications of these topics to polymers. 4. Theoretical models and mathematical derivations are developed in enough detail to be comprehensible to the student reader. Only rarely do I ‘‘pull results out of a hat,’’ and I scrupulously avoid saying ‘‘it is obvious that . . .’’ 5. Generous cross-referencing and a judicious amount of repetition have been included to help unify a book which spans quite a wide range of topics. 6. SI units have been used fairly consistently throughout, and attention is paid to the matter of units whenever these become more than routine in complexity. The book is divided into three parts of three chapters each, after an introductory chapter which contains information that is used throughout the book. In principle, the three parts can be taken up in any order without too much interruption in continuity. Within each of the parts there is more carryover from chapter to chapter, so rearranging the sequence of topics within a given part is less convenient. The book contains more material than can be covered in an ordinary course. Chapter 1 plus two of the three parts contain about the right amount of material for one term. In classroom testing the material, I allowed the class to decide– while we worked on Chapter 1–which two of the other parts they wished to cover; this worked very well. Material from Chapter 1 is cited throughout the book, particularly the discussion of statistics. In this connection, it might be noted that statistical arguments are developed in less detail further along in the book as written. This is one of the drawbacks of rearranging the order in which the topics are covered. Chapters 2 through 4 are concerned with the mechanical properties of bulk polymers, properties which are primarily responsible for the great practical importance of poly￾mers. Engineering students are likely to have both a larger interest and a greater familiarity with these topics. Chapers 5 through 7 are concerned with the preparation and properties of several broad classes of polymers. These topics are closer to the interests of chemistry majors. Chapters 8 through 10 deal with the solution properties of polymers. Since many of the techniques described have been applied to biopolymers, these chapters will have more appeal to students of biochem￾istry and molecular biology. Let me conclude by acknowledging the contributions of those who helped me with the preparation of this book. I wish to thank Marilyn Steinle for expertly typing the manuscript. My appreciation also goes to Carol Truett who skillfully transformed my (very) rough sketches into effective illustrations. Lastly, my thanks to Ron Manwill for preparing the index and helping me with the proofreading. Finally, let me acknowledge that some errors and/or obscurities will surely elude my efforts to eliminate them. I would appreciate reports about these from readers so that these mistakes can eventually be eliminated. Paul C. Hiemenz Hiemenz/ Polymer Chemistry, 2nd Edition DK4670_C000 Final Proof page viii 5.11.2007 8:20pm Compositor Name: JGanesan viii Preface to the Ist Edition