00:00:31 I haven't got it.

00:00:33 I haven't got it either.

00:00:34 Let's play another game.

00:00:36 Yeah!

00:00:38 I know how we'll play.

00:00:39 What?

00:00:40 Let's play a guessing game.

00:00:41 Oh, that'll be cool.

00:00:42 Yeah.

00:00:43 How do you play it?

00:00:44 Well, in this game you've got to have a blindfold.

00:00:47 Oh, I know.

00:00:48 Daddy?

00:00:49 Daddy?

00:00:51 Can I have your handkerchief, please?

00:00:53 Why, sure.

00:00:55 Can you tie around my head, too, will you?

00:00:58 I'll bet I can guess what you're getting ready to do.

00:01:00 Oh, I bet you can.

00:01:01 Well, you just give me one guess.

00:01:03 Okay.

00:01:04 You're getting ready to play blind man's bluff.

00:01:06 That's not it.

00:01:07 It's the guessing game.

00:01:09 You're going to be the one that does the guessing, huh?

00:01:11 That's right.

00:01:12 Okay.

00:01:14 There you are.

00:01:15 Thank you.

00:01:19 There we go.

00:01:20 You look good.

00:01:25 Are you real sure you can't see anything?

00:01:27 Of course not, Billy.

00:01:29 All right, now start guessing.

00:01:31 Heavy, heavy hangs over thy head.

00:01:34 Go on.

00:01:35 Guess.

00:01:36 Does it belong to the animal kingdom?

00:01:38 No.

00:01:40 The vegetable kingdom?

00:01:42 No.

00:01:44 It has just got to belong to the mineral kingdom.

00:01:51 Uh-uh.

00:01:52 It's not a mineral, either.

00:01:53 But it just has to be one of them.

00:01:55 That's all there is.

00:01:56 There are only three kingdoms.

00:01:57 Animal, vegetable, and mineral.

00:01:59 Let me see.

00:02:02 Oh, a thimble.

00:02:04 Thimble, huh, Billy?

00:02:06 Why, Arthur Simpson, that is too a mineral.

00:02:09 Well, it ain't iron or tin or anything like that.

00:02:13 Is it not?

00:02:14 No, it ain't.

00:02:15 Anyway, it is too a mineral.

00:02:17 Daddy, doesn't it belong to the mineral kingdom?

00:02:20 My daddy knows.

00:02:21 He's an engineer.

00:02:22 Well, now, let's see.

00:02:24 Animal, vegetable, and mineral.

00:02:26 I hadn't thought of that before.

00:02:29 Maybe this little thing will belong to a kingdom all of its own.

00:02:33 The fourth kingdom.

00:02:35 The kingdom of plastics.

00:02:36 Plastics?

00:02:39 Plastics are not new materials.

00:02:42 They're as old as grandfather's handlebar mustache.

00:02:46 Remember the high celluloid collars he used to wear?

00:02:49 Well, they were plastic.

00:02:51 The beauty of them being that they never had to be sent to the laundry.

00:02:55 But even though celluloid could be cleaned with a moist handkerchief,

00:02:59 granddad soon found out that it was a pain in the neck.

00:03:04 And dangerous.

00:03:08 Many modern plastics, however, are fire resistant.

00:03:12 One of the numerous improvements science has made in plastic articles.

00:03:17 Plastics come from many different raw materials.

00:03:21 Some of the materials are natural elements like water and air.

00:03:26 Some are growing things like corn and potatoes.

00:03:31 Others are minerals such as oil, coal, and limestone.

00:03:36 From these various raw materials, chemists derive many different chemicals,

00:03:41 which, when combined properly, will form plastics.

00:03:46 Now, suppose you could look inside one of these chemicals.

00:03:50 You would find that, like everything else,

00:03:52 it is made up of billions of tiny particles called molecules.

00:03:58 Molecules are so small that even with the help of the most powerful microscope,

00:04:02 we cannot see them.

00:04:05 But let's suppose they looked like combinations of those building blocks

00:04:09 with which every child is so familiar.

00:04:12 By joining blocks together in different combinations,

00:04:15 we have different kinds of molecules,

00:04:18 each combination forming a pattern which is characteristic of a different material.

00:04:24 Water, for example, has one pattern.

00:04:27 Salt, another, and so on.

00:04:30 When scientists start to make a plastic,

00:04:33 they select those chemicals that have the patterns they need and mix them.

00:04:38 Now, when two different molecules come together in the right way,

00:04:42 a very interesting thing happens.

00:04:45 Some pieces are attracted to others more than to the ones to which they're attached.

00:04:50 So they separate, join the ones that attract them,

00:04:53 and move off to follow their own devices.

00:04:56 Those that are left get together too.

00:04:59 This may keep on until there are a whole lot of them linked together like a chain.

00:05:06 Millions of these chains are formed in the chemical mixture,

00:05:10 and because the molecules are different from the ones with which the plastic chemists started,

00:05:15 a new material is born.

00:05:19 The new material actually looks like this.

00:05:22 It's called a resin,

00:05:24 and in each particle of it there are millions of those tiny new molecules.

00:05:31 In making a plastic article, a resin is heated and molded in something like a waffle iron.

00:05:37 After pressing and heating in the mold, the resin is allowed to cool.

00:05:44 Of course, if a waffle iron were used, you'd get a plastic waffle.

00:05:49 If the waffle were made from a resin in which the molecules were linked together like a chain,

00:05:54 it could be softened again,

00:05:58 then put into another mold to make it into another shape.

00:06:04 And there you are, a different shaped waffle from the same material.

00:06:10 But scientists discovered something else.

00:06:14 If they used a type of resin in which chains of molecules became linked with one another like this,

00:06:20 they got a different kind of plastic.

00:06:24 With more and more heat, more and more links appeared between the chains.

00:06:28 These acted as braces or tie rods, making the chains rigid and inseparable.

00:06:35 You can't soften and remold anything made from this kind of resin.

00:06:39 Once it is set, it is set for good.

00:06:43 This is called a thermosetting plastic, like your telephone receiver or an ashtray, for example.

00:06:49 Heat won't affect it.

00:06:52 Frequently in making plastic articles, a material called a filler is mixed with the resin.

00:06:58 This filler may be chopped rags, walnut shells, or one of many things.

00:07:03 The filler makes the molded product much stronger.

00:07:08 The desired qualities of the product, of course, determine the kind of resin that should be used.

00:07:14 From the resin in which the molecules are in separate chains,

00:07:17 a number of beautiful and useful things are made, some bright with color, some crystal clear.

00:07:25 And from the resin in which the chains of molecules are rigidly linked together,

00:07:30 come those articles which need greater strength and are likely to be subjected to heat.

00:07:36 Pressed between sheets of paper, cloth, or wood,

00:07:40 this type of plastic makes the gears that turn the wheels in factories and in automobiles,

00:07:45 or such household articles as cigarette-proof tabletops.

00:07:52 It was indeed lucky for us that the men of plastics had labored so long and well,

00:07:57 for suddenly we found ourselves at war.

00:08:02 Faced with a critical metal shortage and unprecedented production demands,

00:08:06 armament manufacturers immediately turned to plastics for assistance,

00:08:11 and the kingdom of plastics responded with remarkable speed and ingenuity.

00:08:16 Pressed in new molds, plastics took on countless new shapes and sizes,

00:08:22 providing a wide variety of essential parts for every type of military equipment.

00:08:28 On a 75-millimeter gun, there are a number of plastic parts.

00:08:32 Dozens are used in a modern tank, several hundred to fly in some of our fighting eagles.

00:08:39 Thousands of plastic pieces of equipment to sail in each ship of the line.

00:08:45 Equipment ranging from mortar fuses to ship telephones, from antenna housings to switch gear,

00:08:51 produced with greater speed and economy,

00:08:54 but bringing new strength and efficiency to almost every allied weapon.

00:09:00 But out of the flames of battle, the promise of a new day.

00:09:05 Plastics take their rightful place in a world at peace,

00:09:08 a world dedicated to a richer, fuller life for all.

00:09:12 In transportation, plastics play a role of ever-increasing importance,

00:09:16 lending their unique qualities to body construction and more and more of the mechanical parts.

00:09:23 Certainly there will be more lightweight accessories,

00:09:26 more handsome trim and interior refinements in tomorrow's cars, trains, and planes.

00:09:32 The future will bring plastic fabrics wondrously fine,

00:09:36 yet resistant to wear, wrinkles, and stains, even the hazards of washing.

00:09:41 Shoes more glamorous than Cinderella's.

00:09:44 But that's not all.

00:09:46 There will be furniture combining strength with lightness, comfort with eye appeal.

00:09:51 Homes throughout will be bright with color, economically but beautifully appointed,

00:09:56 with many contributions of the kingdom of plastics designed for practical, gracious living.

00:10:04 Yes, this is a dream of the future.

00:10:07 Yet out of such dreams has come all that we call progress.

00:10:11 So in the years ahead, dreams like this and many more will become realities.