From pink flamingos and vinyl records to kevlar vests and artificial hearts to hula hoops and credit cards, plastic has invaded every aspect of modern life. Surpassing wood, cotton, steel and glass in all categories (except possibly good taste), this nearly indestructible material is the most revolutionary substance man has ever known. Tracing the obscure origins of synthetic materials, this book presents a century's worth of inventors, speculators and designers who transformed society and brought in the plastic invasion. Included are the early celluloid pioneer John Wesley Harding who pursued a quixotic quest to create the perfect man-made billiard ball and Wallace Carothers, inventor of nylon, who commited suicide just as the sexual revolution was about to be ushered in by his creation - nylon stockings.