The science and technology connected with polymeric materials has grown into an immense subject. It is not possible in any single work to cover the field in useful detail. Thus there is a daunting task confronting the person, who, wishing to become acquainted with such materials, attempts to master some of the areas of his or her special interest. It is our belief that polymeric materials are best understood from a molecular basis and that there is a common core of knowledge and principles concerning polymer molecules that can be set out in a single introductory work.

We have taken the viewpoint that an introduction or textbook should undertake to explain and develop the principles selected and not just present results. That means, for most of the subjects, we have proceeded from a very elementary starting point and presented in fair detail the steps. The goal has been to arrive at a point where the reader or student can understand the principles and profitably read the literature connected with that subject.

A number of subjects have been selected based on answering the questions: ‘how are polymers made?,’ ‘what do they look like?’ and ‘how do they behave?’ With respect to the third question we have deliberately stayed away from properties associated directly with the aggregation of polymer molecules in bulk materials. It is of course the interest in bulk materials that is the basic motivation of many, if not most, of the readers and students we hope to reach.