Plastic: Standing the test of time

摘要

Over the centuries, mankind has worked hard to develop synthetic materials that offered benefits not found in natural products around him. The first ever synthetic plastic was cellulose nitrate, discovered in the middle of the 19th century. Plastics started to develop in earnest throughout the 1920s and were used extensively by the military during the Second World War. Nowadays, plastics are found everywhere in society and are often used to replace traditional materials such as wood, stone or metal.