Past, Present And Future

Man's effort to dominate nature is neither today's nor yesterday's. All the historical constraints we will put forward will cause us to underestimate the history of humanity. Dominating nature is an issue that is as old as the birth of man and will extend to the end of humanity. Sometimes man and sometimes nature have won in this difficult struggle. Mankind has always sought a way out for itself, tried to use all the materials in the most efficient way possible, and nature's response to this was to maintain its balance and maintain its existence.

Challenging conditions have always nurtured human creativity. The effort to find solutions to the problems and weaknesses encountered has also been the precursor of a lot of knowledge that we call science today.

Mankind, who used natural materials in the early ages, succeeded in synthesizing the elements together with the increase in knowledge, and laid the foundations of a kind of chemistry. The high production cost and the difficulty of producing the rubber, which is obtained from nature by herbal means, also pushed scientists to seek a solution, and these studies bore fruit after a while. Commercial plastic was first invented by Alexander Parkes in 1862, mass production was started in 1866 and had a great impact around the world. The invention of Bakelite, which is not affected by heat, by Leo Baekeland in 1907 has been the historical turning point of plastic. Bakelite, which has unprecedented advantages, has a low production cost, is easy to use and shaped, and has a very long life, has been used extensively since its invention.

The opportunities provided by the developing chemistry science and production technologies have also revealed modern plastic types, which are an integral part of every aspect of our lives today. It would be correct to say that today there is no area where plastic is not used.

What about the future? For nearly 100 years, no strong alternative has emerged to replace plastic. Many reasons such as ease of use, low cost and durability leave plastic unrivaled. Increasing recycling technology and methods today create a strong impression that plastic will maintain its throne in the near future. However, when we look at the past of mankind, it is not possible to predict what surprises await us in the future!

It may not be clear when we will go to space as a colony, but plastic has already taken its place in space. There should be no stepchildren in the plastic world, which is the key to existence in space.