Paul Flory Biography, Age, Weight, Height, Friend, Like, Affairs, Favourite, Birthdate & Other

Perkin Medal (1977) Elliott Cresson Medal (1971) Peter Debye Award (1969) Charles Goodyear Medal (1968)

Paul Flory was an American chemist considered as the founder of the science of polymers. He was most reputed for his pioneering contributions in the field of polymers or macromolecules. His leading-edge scientific work in comprehending the behaviour of polymers in solution won him the prestigious Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1974 “for his fundamental achievements, both theoretical and experimental, in the physical chemistry of macromolecules”.

He examined properties of polymers and made significant contributions in comprehending solution thermodynamics, hydrodynamics, molar mass distribution, glass formation, crystallization, melt viscosity, elasticity and chain conformation. He found that growth of an increasing polymeric chain can stop if it reacts with other molecules that are present and in that case it initiates a new chain. The theory of polymer networks was developed by him to elucidate the method of gelation.

Later he also developed a theory of anistropic solutions and a theory of rubber networks. Post retirement he worked in Eastern Europe and Soviet Union as a human rights advocate. He served in academic institutions as well as in industrial sector and he was immensely interested both in the theory of macromolecule as also in its practical uses. He received many awards apart from Nobel Prize which included Charles Goodyear Medal (1968), Priestley Medal (1974) and the National Medal of Science(1974).