What did Roy Plunkett do?

From the 1930s to the present, beginning with neoprene and nylon, the American chemical industry has introduced a cornucopia of polymers to the consumer. Teflon, discovered by Roy Plunkett (1910-1994) at DuPont's Jackson Laboratory in 1938, was an accidental invention-unlike most of the other polymer products. But as Plunkett often told student audiences, his mind was prepared by education and training to recognize novelty.

By Bryan Coby