PHENOL THE VERY FIRST totally man-made polymer was produced about twenty-five years before Du Pont’s nylon. It was a somewhat random cross-linked material made from a compound whose chemical structure was similar to some of the spice molecules to which we attributed the Age of Discovery. This compound, phenol, started another age, the Age of Plastics. Linked to such diverse topics as surgical practices, endangered elephants, photography, and orchids, phenols have played a pivotal role in a number of advances that have changed the world. STERILE SURGERY In 1860 you would not have wanted to be a patient in a hospital—especially not to undergo an operation. Hospitals were dark, grimy, and airless. Patients were commonly given beds where the bedclothes were not changed after the previous occupant left—or more probably died. Surgical wards exuded an appalling stench from gangrene and sepsis. Equally appalling was the death rate from such bacterial infections; at least 40 percent of amputees died from so-called hospital disease.
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