[Artemisia] One Word....Plastics

[Bruce Padget]

(Hoping I'm not the only one here old enough to get the reference in the
subject line...)

Anyway -- On page 9 of the May _Discover_, there's a little article called
"Leonardo, Godfather of Tupperware."

The director of an Italian museum was looking through some of Leonardo da
Vinci's notes, and came upon some mysterious recipes.  These recipes were
for mixtures that Leonardo claimed would harden into a material that would
make nearly unbreakable knife handles, chessboards, jewelry, cups, and
vases.

When the director whomped up a batch, the result resembled Bakelite, a
plastic from the early 20th century, but it was easier to work with.
_Discover_ states that more information is available at
www.museoleonardo.it/inglese/start.html

Now *there's* a concept for an Alchemy entry.... :D

Regards,
Niccolo
Abbastanza Buon Non E Abbastanza Buono
bapadget at yahoo.com

Disclaimer -- the article was in _Discover_'s "R&D" section, which often
features leading edge (even "bleeding edge") research.