The sixty-ninth Kelvin Lecture. Electrical technology and polymer science

The polymer field has been the source of both elegant discoveries and highly useful inventions. It has responded to three main driving forces: first, the `push¿ provided by fundamental discoveries in physics and chemistry; secondly, the `pull¿ provided by the needs of the electrical industry; and, thirdly, the `feedback¿ of electrical discoveries and inventions into the field of polymer chemistry. Exciting prospects in the field of biology based on the ever-increasing sophistication of polymer chemistry lie ahead of us. As new knowledge and new needs emerge, we will have ample opportunity to continue bringing electrical technology and polymer science together in ways that surely would have made Lord Kelvin proud.