Synthetic polymerization transformed human material culture starting in the early 20th century.

In 1907, Leo Baekeland created Bakelite, the world’s first fully synthetic plastic. He did this by reacting phenol and formaldehyde under heat and pressure, locking them into a rigid, three-dimensional polymer network. This marked a massive shift. Humans were no longer limited to using wood, stone, and metal. We could now design materials from the molecule up. Following Bakelite, the discovery of nylon, polyethylene, and Teflon changed everything from food preservation to space travel. These synthetic chains gave us cheap, sterile, and virtually indestructible tools, laying the material foundations of modern society.