Abstract
For many years Staudinger defended the theory that polymers have—in the simplest ease—a long chain form of molecules, in which a certain small unit repeats itself regularly along the chain, the units being united by primary valencies. His arguments were not, however, at the beginning of 1927, sufficiently convincing. The decisive argument was forthcoming shortly afterwards by the application of x-ray spectrography. I would like to begin this article by bringing a few personal memories about this development. At the meeting of the Naturforscherversammlung in Innsbruck in September, 1924, I first heard him defend this theory, especially for the ease of polyoxymethylenes, but also for some other cases. Neither I myself nor some others to whom I spoke were convinced by his very interesting exposition. His conception seemed possible, but, many of us thought, not proved. And the whole subject did not yet look attractive to many of us. At the meeting of the Naturforscherversammlung in Düsseldorf in September, 1926, where a symposium on high molecular weight substances was held, he again defended this theory. In 1926, the interest in the subject had already increased a good deal, as is clearly shown by the fact that a symposium on the subject had been arranged. Yet, Staudinger's conceptions did not seem to many of us really convincing, nor was the decisive value which x-ray spectrography could have for the subject yet understood at this meeting. Under these circumstances there can be little doubt that the priority of the idea of the long chain molecules for polymers is chiefly due to Staudinger.