Herman Mark and Friends

The story of Herman Mark and his polymer friends provides a strong basis for a coherent narrative. Brooklyn Poly was a fortress from which many polymer battles could be fought. With the death of Herman Mark, times have changed and the Polymer Research Institute is now an historical artifact. 

Robert s dissertation advisers were both good friends of Albert Einstein Hans Thirring, whose Lense-Thirring equation had provided a method for testing Einstein s special theory of relativity, and Felix Ehrenhaft, who had provided support for Einstein s theory of Brownian motion by making observations of the movement of silver particles in air (which brought him the Lieben Prize of the Vienna Academy of Sciences). For his postdoctoral research topic Robert approached Thirring, chair of the Institute for Theoretical Physics, who directed him to Herman Mark in the First Chemical Laboratory of the University of Vienna. 

Members of the Polymer Division, Guests and friends of Herman Mark -... 

When I was asked to contribute to this volume on the lifetime accomplishments of my good friend Herman, I seized the opportunity with enthusiasm and alacrity. Here was my chance to put on the record how I have always felt and still feel about this remarkable and unique individual. I use the term "unique" advisedly, since I feel that Herman F. Mark has indeed made a unique contribution to the world of polymers, and that he stands alone in that regard. 

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