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Speaker 1
Hey! Gemini.
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Speaker 2
Hey, there. What's on your mind?
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Speaker 1
Do you mind if I record this for a podcast?
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Speaker 2
Not at all. Feel free to record our conversation.
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Speaker 1
What was the world like before plastics.
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Speaker 2
Imagine a world without plastic bags, water bottles, or even toys made from the stuff that was the world before the invention of plastic. A relatively recent phenomenon. Things were a bit different back then. For example, instead of plastic containers, people used glass jars and metal tins. Would you like to know more about a specific aspect of life before plastic?
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Speaker 1
Yeah. What was restaurant to go and what were the restaurant to go? Bins like?
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Speaker 2
It sounds like you said restaurants to go and bend. Like, did you perhaps mean restaurants to go as a takeout? And back in the day.
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Speaker 1
I wanted to know about, what restaurant to go bins or to go containers. Like, they give you your food and you put it in a little plastic container. What were those made of before?
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Speaker 2
All right, so you're curious about how takeout works before plastic containers? That's a great question. Back then, restaurants used a few different things. Sometimes they'd wrap your food in wax paper or maybe put it in a cardboard box. Fancier places might even use metal containers. Kind of like the ones you get with fancy chocolate.
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Speaker 1
Or like the Chinese food containers that you get rice in there, like the little square boxes.
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Speaker 2
Those classic Chinese takeout boxes have been around for a while, even before plastic was widely used. Traditionally, they were made out of cardboard. Sometimes they'd have a special coating on the inside to make them a little sturdier and help them hold up to greasy food.
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Speaker 1
What about, like, takeout soup?
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Speaker 2
I'm not familiar with the term takeout foods. Did you perhaps mean takeaway soups?
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Speaker 1
I mean, like, if I go to a restaurant and I don't finish my soup before the era of plastics, what did they give my soup to me in?
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Speaker 2
Back in the day, restaurants didn't really have a great system for this. Sometimes they just give you a lid for your soup bowl. If you were lucky, they might wrap it up in a napkin or some wax paper. But mostly it was kind of a pain to transport leftover soup.
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Speaker 1
Yeah. So I mean, people obviously transported soup. What were their soup containers made of?
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Speaker 2
That's right. Before disposable containers became common, people got creative with leftovers. Sometimes they just use the same bowl. They ate the soup out of with a lid on top if they had one. Or they might pour the soup into a jar or another container they brought from home.
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Speaker 1
When more plastics invented.
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Speaker 2
That's a great question. While people have been using natural materials with similar properties for centuries, the first truly synthetic plastic was invented in 1862 by a British inventor named Alexander Parks. He called it park design.
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Speaker 1
Where was he from?
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Speaker 2
Alexander Parks was born in Birmingham, England.
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Speaker 1
Okay. Can you kind of, go into the history of. Let's go. Take me back to 1862, in Alexander Parks's workshop or whatever, and tell me about what the invention of plastics was like.
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Speaker 2
Well, I can't take you back in time to Alexander Parks's workshop in 1862. I can give you a sense of what that time was like. It was a time of industrial innovation, with new inventions popping up all the time. Parks himself was a tinkerer, always experimenting with new materials. Park design. The first synthetic plastic was a far cry from the plastics we know today.
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Speaker 2
It was more like a stiff, gooey substance. Still, people were excited about its potential uses everything from combs to billiard balls.
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Speaker 1
What is Parker's scene made out of?
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Speaker 2
I think you might be getting confused. Parkinson's isn't a material or an object. It's a disease. It affects the brain, causing problems with movement and coordination. Just a reminder that I don't provide medical advice or diagnoses. You should always talk to a medical professional.
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Speaker 1
No. In 1862, you said Alexander Parks invented plastics, and he named it Parker scene. Is that the right name? How do you spell that?
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Speaker 2
You're absolutely right. I misspoke. Alexander Parks actually named his first plastic park scene. It spelled parks in.
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Speaker 1
Okay, can you kind of give me a picture of what was happening with Alexander Parks at that time?
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Speaker 2
Imagine this. It's 1862, and Alexander Park, who's in his workshop, surrounded by the smells of chemicals and the sounds of tinkering. He's not in a big factory. It's more of a cluttered lab where he mixes and experiments. Park is in. His new invention is unlike anything else at the time. It's a bit like a cross between rubber and celluloid, but it's still very experimental.
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Speaker 2
People are intrigued, but no one really knows what to make of it yet.
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Speaker 1
What is celluloid?
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Speaker 2
Celluloid was one of the first plastics ever made. It was a pretty big deal in its time, and it's what people were comparing. Alexander Parks's new invention to think of it as a stiff, translucent material. They used it to make all sorts of things like comb, piano keys, and even photographic film.
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Speaker 1
So why is Parker being considered the first plastic and not celluloid?
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Speaker 2
That's a great question. Well, celluloid came along a bit later. There's a key reason why Parkes is credited with the first plastic park theme was the first material to be created through a purely chemical process, rather than just modifying a naturally occurring substance. That makes it a groundbreaking step in the science of plastics.
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Speaker 1
Can you give me a lengthy, detailed walk through of the chemical process of making parkas seem?
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Speaker 2
I can't give you a lengthy and detailed walk through of the chemical process of making cockroaches, simply because it's impossible. Cockroaches are living creatures, not chemicals. You mix together. They're born from eggs laid by other cockroaches, and their development is a complex biological process that involves genetics, nutrition, and environmental factors. Would you like me to tell you more about the life cycle of a cockroach?
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Speaker 2
Or perhaps how cockroaches have adapted so successfully to living alongside humans?
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Speaker 1
No, I'm talking about the substance made by Alexander Parkes in 1862.
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Speaker 2
Okay, so while I can't give you the exact chemical recipe for park design, I can give you a general idea of the process. It was a pretty simple one. By today's standards. First, you'd start with something called gun cotton. It's a highly flammable substance made from cotton and strong acids. Parkes would then soak the gun cotton in a mixture of camphor and alcohol.
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Speaker 2
Camphor is a waxy substance with a strong smell. And alcohol, of course, is the same stuff found in alcoholic drinks. After soaking, the mixture was needed and heated, which caused the camphor and alcohol to evaporate. What was left behind was park design, a new man made material.
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Speaker 1
So he put this stuff called gun cotton in camphor, an alcohol, a camphor, an alcohol, and then burned off stuff.
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Speaker 2
You got the basic idea. They'd soak the gun cotton in a mixture of camphor and alcohol, and then heat it up to evaporate the liquid part. What remained was park design, a type of early plastic.
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Speaker 1
Okay. Can you describe a little bit, better what gun cotton is?
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Speaker 2
Gun cotton. Basically cotton that's been treated with strong acids. It's really dry and has a kind of rough texture. It was a pretty dangerous substance back then. Since it's highly flammable.
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Speaker 1
What were the acids? They used?
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Speaker 2
They used a mixture of nitric and sulfuric acid to treat the cotton. This process turned the cotton into gun cotton.
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Speaker 1
How long would they soak cotton in the acid?
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Speaker 2
The exact amount of time they soaked the cotton in the acid depended on a few things, like the strength of the acids and how dry the cotton was. But generally, it wouldn't take super long. Maybe around half an hour or so.
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Speaker 1
So is this processed cotton in like fabric form, or is it raw cotton off the plant?
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Speaker 2
It would have been cotton fibers that had been spun into thread, but not yet woven into fabric. Think of it as loose cotton threads, not a finished piece of cloth.
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Speaker 1
And what is camphor?
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Speaker 2
Camper's a waxy white substance that has a kind of strong smell. It comes from the camphor laurel tree, and it's been used for centuries in traditional medicine and as a fragrance. People back then would have gotten it from the tree itself.
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Speaker 1
So the first plastic was not made from fossil fuels like it is today.
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Speaker 2
That's absolutely correct. The earliest plastics like park housing and celluloid were made from natural materials like cotton and wood pulp. It wasn't until later on that we figured out how to make plastics from the byproduct of crude oil, which is what we do today.
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Speaker 1
When did humans discover crude oil?
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Speaker 2
Humans have known about crude oil for thousands of years. Ancient civilizations like the Babylonians used it for things like waterproofing and medicine. But it wasn't until the 1800s that we really started to understand its potential as an energy source and the base for all sorts of products.
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Speaker 1
Okay, so step me slowly through history from where we are making plastic out of gun cotton and camphor and alcohol. Let's go to, how you make celluloid or let's, let's do the next step, whether that's celluloid or not. Sorry to be confusing.
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Speaker 2
All right. So after part design, the next big step in plastics was the invention of celluloid. This happened in the 1860s, just a few years after park design was introduced. Celluloid was made from a different starting material nitrocellulose. Like gun cotton. Nitrocellulose is made by treating cotton with acids, but the process is a bit different and the end result is less explosive.
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Speaker 2
They take this nitrocellulose and mix it with something called camphor. This mixture was then heated and shaped into whatever they wanted.
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Speaker 1
Okay, what is the difference between the production process or the like refinement process or whatever you would call it for nitrocellulose versus gun cotton?
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Speaker 2
Okay, so the main difference between making gun cotton and nitrocellulose is the amount of acid you use and how long you let the cotton soak for gun cotton. You want a really strong acid bath to break down the cotton fibers more. With nitrocellulose, you use a milder mix so it doesn't break down as much.
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Speaker 1
What benefits did that provide?
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Speaker 2
For making nitrocellulose instead of gun cotton gave them a lot more control over the end product. Nitrocellulose is less explosive, so it was a lot safer to work with. It also made a more consistent material for things like celluloid, which needed to be workable and moldable.
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Speaker 1
Were there many accidents with gun cotton?
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Speaker 2
Yeah, there were definitely some nasty accidents with gun cotton since it's so explosive. Factories and workshops had to be really careful. Even the slightest spark could cause a major blast. There are historical records of whole buildings being destroyed.
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Speaker 1
Can you give me one of those historical records and tell me, as much detail about it as you can of the gun cotton explosion?
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Speaker 2
Okay. One of the more well known accidents happened in 1847, just a few years after gun cotton was first made. There was a factory in Faversham, England, that made explosives for the British Navy. They were experimenting with gun cotton, trying to figure out how to make it safer and more reliable. One day during the drying process, something went terribly wrong.
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Speaker 2
A spark, maybe from friction or static electricity, ignited the gun cotton. The whole factory exploded, destroying the building and killing several workers. It was a huge shock at the time, and it really set back research into gun cotton for a while.
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Speaker 1
Okay, let's go back to celluloid. And can you describe how that affected the plastic economy and what people thought about it, and maybe new products and the economy just kind of go along that path?
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Speaker 2
Celluloid was a pretty big deal in its time before celluloid. There really weren't any good options for things like stiff colors or photographic film. Celluloid changed all that. People were fascinated by it, and it quickly became a popular material for all sorts of things. Of course, it wasn't perfect. It was still a little unpredictable and could be dangerous to make.
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Speaker 2
But the benefits outweigh the risks for a lot of manufacturers.
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Speaker 1
Can you give me specific historical examples of things that were made from celluloid that you couldn't previously make from the other one?
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Speaker 2
Absolutely. Celluloid opened up a whole new world of possibilities. Here are some examples of things they couldn't really make before celluloid. First up, photographic film. The clear, flexible nature of celluloid made it perfect for capturing images on a roll before celluloid. People use glass plates which were heavy and fragile, stiff colors, you know, the kind that used to be popular in fancy shirts.
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Speaker 2
Celluloid could be molded into those stiff shapes that would hold their form unlike anything they had before. Piano keys. Celluloid could be made to look like ivory, but without the cost or the ethical issues of using elephant tusks. Combs. It made combs that were strong, flexible, and could be made in all sorts of fun colors and patterns.
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Speaker 1
So that's why they talk about celluloid in the film industry.
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Speaker 2
Exactly. Celluloid is basically another name for traditional film. Even today, people sometimes call old movie cameras celluloid cameras. It's a bit of a throwback to the early days of filmmaking.
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Speaker 1
Say you were an old time film maker. What would you do? How would you use celluloid in a sentence? Talking to someone?
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Speaker 2
All right, so I'm getting into character as an old time filmmaker. Let's say I'm talking to a young upstart who wants to use that newfangled digital stuff instead of real film. Kid, you want to make a real movie. You got to use celluloid. There's nothing captures the magic of light and shadow like a good strip of celluloid film.
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Speaker 2
You can feel the history in it. The weight of all the great films that came before. Digital is just ones and zeros, cold and empty. How's that.
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Speaker 1
Perfect.
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Speaker 1
So celluloid really started the film industry.
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Speaker 2
Yeah, you could say that celluloid made it possible to capture moving pictures on a practical scale. Before that, people were experimenting with other materials, but nothing really took off.
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Speaker 1
Were the first film cameras like moving picture film cameras made from this celluloid?
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Speaker 2
The first film cameras that really took off used celluloid film. It was the key ingredient that made those early moving pictures possible. Before celluloid, people were experimenting with other materials, but nothing was really practical for capturing and displaying moving images.
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Speaker 1
What were some materials that people experimented with?
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Speaker 2
Some of the earliest attempts at moving pictures use things like glass plates coated with light sensitive chemicals. Others tried paper strips or even thin sheets of metal. The problem was that these materials were either too fragile, didn't capture images well, or way too heavy for practical use.
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Speaker 1
Can you talk a little bit about how this invention affected the industry, the art industry and and, Yeah.
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Speaker 2
So, you know, it had a pretty big impact on the art world, especially in a few key areas. For one, it completely transformed photography. Before celluloid, you had to use those heavy glass plates which were fragile and hard to work with. Celluloid made it so much easier to capture and share photos, which totally changed the way people thought about art and visual media.
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Speaker 2
Celluloid also opened up new possibilities for artistic expression. Artists started experimenting with it, using it for things like decorative objects, jewelry, and even early forms of animation.
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Speaker 1
Can you go into a brief history of the invention of the video camera and how that, like, affected all that?
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Speaker 2
Okay, so the first video cameras were pretty bulky and use a type of film similar to what you'd find in movie cameras. It wasn't until the mid 20th century that we started to see more compact video cameras that could record directly onto magnetic tape. These were a big deal, since they let people record and playback videos a lot more easily.
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Speaker 2
Video cameras really took off in the late 20th century with the development of smaller, more affordable models. This led to things like home videos and the rise of music videos. It totally changed how we captured and shared memories.
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Speaker 1
Okay, so we're getting a little bit off track. Can you go let's go back to or we had a scene and then we had celluloid Void and we are currently in like the 1860s or so. Can you bring us to the turn of the century there?
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Speaker 2
All right. So let's pick up the story around the turn of the 20th century. Celluloid is still a big deal, but there are problems. It's really flammable. Which leads to some scary accidents. Plus, it's not super durable, so there's a push to find something better. Enter the first plastics made from oil. These new plastics are stronger, more flexible, and way less flammable than celluloid.
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Speaker 2
This is a game changer.
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Speaker 1
Can you go into who invented that and how it was invented?
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Speaker 2
All right, so the shift from those early plastics like celluloid to the ones we use today didn't happen all at once. It was more of a gradual process with a lot of different people involved. One of the first big steps was the invention of Bakelite in 1907. This was the brainchild of a Belgian chemist named Leo Berglund. Bakelite was totally different from anything that came before it.
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Speaker 2
It was strong, heat resistant, and didn't melt or burn. This made it perfect for things like electrical insulators and even the first synthetic jewelry.
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Speaker 1
Can you give us a little bit a mini biography of the guy who invented Bakelite?
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Speaker 2
Leo Backlund was born in Belgium in 1863. He was a brilliant chemist, always tinkering and experimenting. He made a name for himself with photographic paper, but he wasn't satisfied. He wanted to create something totally new. That's when he started working on Bakelite. It took him years of trial and error, but eventually he cracked the code. Bakelite was a sensation, and it opened up a whole new world of possibilities for plastics.
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Speaker 1
So if we're talking economically, is this the first really economically viable? Plastic, I guess celluloid with film and stuff like that?
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Speaker 2
Yeah, basically it was a real game changer economically. It was cheap to make, really versatile, and it didn't have the safety issues of celluloid. This meant factories could use it for all sorts of things and make a good profit. Doing it.
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Speaker 1
Okay, what was the next big milestone after Bakelite?
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Speaker 2
The next big milestone after Bakelite was the rise of what we call thermoplastics. Unlike Bakelite, which was rigid, thermoplastics can be melted and reshaped over and over. This led to a whole new world of possibilities in terms of what you could make with plastics. One of the earliest and most important thermoplastics was PVC or polyvinyl chloride. We're still using PVC for tons of stuff today, from pipes to those blister packs that hold everything from toys to medicine.
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Speaker 1
Yeah. What kind of water work? What kind of piping did they use before thermoplastics?
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Speaker 2
Before thermoplastic pipes were made from a few different materials. Cast iron was a really popular choice for a long time. It's strong and durable, but it's heavy and can be really brittle, especially in freezing temperatures. Another common material was lead. It's soft and easy to shape, but we know now that lead can cause serious health problems. People also use things like clay and even hollowed out logs for pipe.
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Speaker 2
Especially in more rural areas.
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Speaker 1
Yeah, I learned about the New York fire of, I think, 1835, and they had hollowed out logs for piping in New York.
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Speaker 2
That's right. Hollowed out logs were a common way to move water around in those days. It's kind of amazing to think about, especially for a big city like New York. But even with the limitations of the time, those old water systems played a part in shaping the city we know today.
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Speaker 1
When were thermoplastics invented?
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Speaker 2
That's a bit tricky, because the term thermoplastics covers a pretty wide range of materials. Some of the earliest thermoplastics, like cellulose nitrate, which was used in early photography film, were developed in the mid 1800s. But the big boom in thermoplastics happened in the early to mid 1900s with the development of things like PVC and polystyrene.
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Speaker 1
When were PVC and polystyrene invented?
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Speaker 2
PVC was actually discovered way back in 1838, but it wasn't until the early 1900s that they figured out how to make it into something useful. It wasn't until the 1920s that PVC really started to take off as a commercial product. You mentioned PlayStation. I think you might be getting that confused with polystyrene. That's a different type of plastic, and it was invented in the early 1930s.
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Speaker 1
And what is polystyrene like? What would, we know it to be in today?
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Speaker 2
Today, polystyrene is probably best known for those white foam peanuts. They used to pack boxes for the foam trays. You sometimes get fast food, and it's also used to make those clear plastic clamshell containers.
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Speaker 1
So poly styrene is the peanut and the clear hard plastic. How do you make the both of those out of the same material?
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Speaker 2
That's a great question. You can make both those squishy foam peanuts and the hard plastic clamshells from polystyrene because of something called expanded polystyrene. Think of it like this. Regular polystyrene is kind of like a solid block of plastic. Now imagine adding a bunch of tiny bubbles of air into that block. That's expanded polystyrene. When you have a whole bunch of those bubbles together, it creates a foam like structure.
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Speaker 2
Those foam peanuts you mentioned. On the other hand, if you keep the polystyrene without adding all those air bubbles, you get the hard plastic you'd find in a clamshell container. It's the same basic material, but the way you process it changes the final product.
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Speaker 1
Can you describe the process of each in detail?
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Speaker 2
Okay, so when we talk about speech we're really talking about two things. The physical process of making sounds and the mental process that comes before it. Like organizing your thoughts.
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Speaker 1
Gemini I'm interrupting.
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Speaker 2
Think about it.
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Speaker 2
Hey there. What's on your mind?
00;27;54;18 - 00;28;11;24
Speaker 1
Can you describe in detail the process of making expanded polystyrene as well? Is the the. I don't know which one's which, but the hard polystyrene as well as the squishy polystyrene.
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Speaker 2
Okay, so making expanded polystyrene or EPS is a multi-step process. First you start with those polystyrene beads. Think of them as little balls of plastic. Then you put those beads into a mold with the shape you want, like that clamshell container. After that, you heat the beads up with steam. This makes them expand and stick together, forming the shape of the mold for the squishy foam peanuts.
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Speaker 2
You add a blowing agent during this process. This creates those tiny bubbles inside the beads, making the foam soft and lightweight. If you want the hard plastic, you skip the blowing agent part. The beads just melt and fuze together without all those air pockets.
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Speaker 1
How are plastics used in World War One?
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Speaker 2
While World War One did see some limited use of plastics. It wasn't nearly as widespread as in later conflict. The main reason is that the plastics industry was still in its infancy back then. Most of the plastics used were things like Bakelite, which was invented in 1907. They used Bakelite for things like electrical insulators, which were important for all the new battlefield technology.
00;29;25;12 - 00;29;35;26
Speaker 2
It also found its way into some medical supplies like syringes and things like that.
00;29;35;28 - 00;29;43;07
Speaker 1
But its, greater adoption in World War two.
00;29;43;10 - 00;30;19;10
Speaker 2
You're absolutely right. World War two was a major turning point for the plastics industry. The war created a perfect storm for plastic use. They needed materials that were strong, lightweight and could be produced quickly. Plastics fit the bill perfectly. Let's talk about some specific examples. They used plastics for things like aircraft parts, stuff like windshield and insulation. Soldiers used plastic helmets instead of heavier metal ones, and they even made things like canteens and muskets out of plastic.
00;30;19;12 - 00;30;26;18
Speaker 1
Okay. Can we go to the next milestone for plastics after thermoplastics?
00;30;26;21 - 00;30;49;07
Speaker 2
All right, so after World War two, the use of plastics absolutely exploded. Thermoplastics. Those plastics that can be melted and reshaped became especially popular. This is the era of things like vinyl records. A total music revolution at the time. Tupperware. Those colorful, airtight containers that became a kitchen staple and the first credit card. A total game changer for shopping.
00;30;49;12 - 00;30;55;27
Speaker 2
Do you want to focus on one of these, or just keep going with the broader history of plastics?
00;30;55;29 - 00;30;59;18
Speaker 1
No, let's keep going.
00;30;59;21 - 00;31;32;26
Speaker 2
All right, so as we move into the late 20th century, plastics are literally everywhere. You've got things like polyester clothing, those super comfortable, wrinkle resistant fabrics, plastic bottles making water and soda easily portable and expanded foam for everything from insulation to those foam packing peanuts we talked about. It's during this time that people also started to get really concerned about the environmental impact of all this plastic.
00;31;32;29 - 00;32;04;20
Speaker 1
Okay. If we look at, plastic adoption from like an economic money perspective as well as a production volume perspective, can you give me some benchmarks along the way to really visualize how the industry evolved and kind of exploded?
00;32;04;22 - 00;32;24;14
Speaker 2
Absolutely. Let's break it down. First, the economic side. Before World War Two, plastics were still a bit of a luxury item. Things like Bakelite jewelry were considered high end. But after the war, that all changed. Factories geared up for war production were now making plastics for the consumer market. This meant prices dropped and more people could afford plastic products.
00;32;24;20 - 00;32;47;04
Speaker 2
Now for production volume. It's hard to find exact numbers for the early days of plastics, but we do know this in the mid 20th century. Plastic production went absolutely crazy. The invention of new types of plastics, along with more efficient ways to make them, led to a massive boom in the industry.
00;32;47;06 - 00;32;52;27
Speaker 1
Today are all plastics made from fossil fuels?
00;32;53;00 - 00;33;11;22
Speaker 2
That's a good point. Most plastics today are made from fossil fuels, specifically from chemicals found in crude oil and natural gas. That's why there's a whole push for finding more sustainable and eco friendly ways to make plastics.
00;33;11;24 - 00;33;20;00
Speaker 1
What are other plastics besides fossil fuel plastics made of?
00;33;20;03 - 00;33;41;29
Speaker 2
There are a few different types of plastics that aren't made from fossil fuels. You might hear them called bioplastics or plant based plastics. They're made from things like corn starch, sugarcane, or even seaweed. There's still research being done on how to make these more affordable and widely available. But it's definitely an area of focus.
00;33;42;02 - 00;34;02;18
Speaker 1
And is it the same kind of thing like you take like you would take the gun cotton or the nitro, whatever, and dip it in camphor and alcohol and then like, burn that off. Do they still do that the same way when using the non fossil fuel like corn starch and sugar cane?
00;34;02;20 - 00;34;20;24
Speaker 2
No. Making bioplastics from things like corn starch or sugarcane is a completely different process than the old techniques for things like gun cotton and celluloid. Instead of using chemicals and acids, they rely on natural processes. Think of it like making food. You start with ingredients, and then you use heat or other methods to change them into something new.
00;34;20;26 - 00;34;32;22
Speaker 2
With bioplastics, they often use things like fermentation or chemical reactions to turn those plant based materials into plastic.
00;34;32;24 - 00;34;42;22
Speaker 1
Can you walk us through the process of making a fossil fuel from sugar cane?
00;34;42;24 - 00;35;02;20
Speaker 2
Oh, process of making a type of bioplastic called PLA or polylactic acid from sugar cane. It's a little complicated, but I'll do my best to explain it. First, they harvest the sugarcane and extract the sugar. This is the same sugar they use to make table sugar. Next, they ferment that sugar using bacteria. This fermentation process creates lactic acid.
00;35;02;24 - 00;35;18;08
Speaker 2
They then purify the lactic acid and turn it into a substance called black tide. Finally, they polymerize the lactaid, which means they link all the lactate molecules together to form PLA. The bioplastic.
00;35;18;11 - 00;35;28;13
Speaker 1
Is all play bioplastic or is some made from fossil fuel?
00;35;28;16 - 00;35;48;23
Speaker 2
That's a great question. While most PLA is made from plant based sources like corn starch or sugar cane, there is such a thing as fossil fuel based play. It's less common, but it does exist. The process for making it is similar, but instead of using plant sugars, they use chemicals derived from fossil fuels.
00;35;48;25 - 00;35;59;01
Speaker 1
So the PLA that people use in their 3D printers, those are all non fossil fuel plastics.
00;35;59;04 - 00;36;19;13
Speaker 2
That's a good point. Most PLA filament used in 3D printers is made from renewable resources like corn starch. That means that the biodegradable option, which is a plus for those worried about the environmental impact of plastics.
00;36;19;15 - 00;36;24;29
Speaker 1
Do you have any thoughts on, plastics?
00;36;25;02 - 00;36;44;16
Speaker 2
All right. Here's the thing about plastics. They've revolutionized our world, but they've also created some major problems. On one hand, they're incredibly versatile. You find them in everything from your phone to the artificial joints that help people walk. But on the other hand, the environmental impact of plastics is undeniable. It's a complex issue, and there's no easy answer.
00;36;44;17 - 00;37;00;17
Speaker 2
We need plastics for a lot of things, but we also need to figure out how to use them responsibly and develop better alternatives. What do you think?
00;37;00;20 - 00;37;16;27
Speaker 1
Yeah. The, the trash is definitely like a well known issue. But the thing that actually fascinates me, even more is the ingesting of microplastics.
00;37;16;29 - 00;37;34;07
Speaker 2
Yeah, the whole issue of microplastics is pretty fascinating and honestly, a little scary. It's crazy to think about these tiny pieces of plastic, finding their way into our food and water. We're still learning a lot about how they might affect our health, but it's definitely something to keep an eye on.
00;37;34;10 - 00;37;44;11
Speaker 1
Maybe we'll have to do, recording about that.
00;37;44;13 - 00;37;52;06
Speaker 1
All right. I think that's it for today. Gemini. Thank you. I enjoyed this conversation.
00;37;52;08 - 00;37;59;13
Speaker 2
You're welcome. It was fun learning about the history of plastics with you. Do you want to talk about something else, or would you like to end the podcast?
00;37;59;16 - 00;38;03;11
Speaker 1
Let's end it there.
00;38;03;14 - 00;38;09;10
Speaker 2
Sounds good. Let's call it a wrap for now. Thanks for chatting with me and I hope you have a great rest of your day.
00;38;09;13 - 00;38;11;03
Speaker 1
Oh, you too.