Preface to the third edition

The second edition of Principles of Polymer Engineering was published 27 years ago, and much has happened since in the world of polymers. The rate of global production of synthetic polymers has more than doubled, and they are now fully embedded worldwide as engineering materials. These days, most manufactured products include polymeric parts. Another feature of the intervening years has been growing recognition of the need for sustainability in production and use of all materials. For polymers this has many implications, especially because of the need to reduce dependency on fossil fuels. It means ensuring materials are recycled when products reach the end of their useful life, and it has driven development of biodegradable polymers and bio-sourced polymers. There have also been advances in scientific understanding, supporting improvement of polymer properties, and the optimizing of forming processes for polymers. At the same time, new forming processes for them have appeared, exploiting advances in information engineering. All this has motivated a substantial revision, resulting in this third edition.