Silicon and Silicones: About Stone-age Tools, Antique Pottery, Modern Ceramics, Computers, Space Materials and How They All Got That Way

An Overview for the General Reader The fact that silicone rubber boots made those footprints on the moon, and that other silicone polymers made possible the construc­ tion and functioning of space suits and space vehicles, has led to the general belief that silicones are very modem materials conjured up to meet the needs of space travel. Actually, though, silicone chemis­ try has deep roots in human history, dating from the dawn of the race and extending through all of geology, mineralogy, ...