Providing a well-rounded presentation, this book covers the principles and applications of natural, synthetic, inorganic, and organic polymers. Using simple fundamentals, the author shows how the basic principles of one polymer group can be applied to all other groups. Brief case studies illustrate various developments and the societal and scientific contexts in which these changes occurred. This new third edition continues to address environmental concerns and green polymeric materials but also adds new material on health concerns of additives as well as additional information on the use of microbes for monomer synthesis and cracking processes in fuels. Each chapter contains careful updates.