Flory, Paul John

Flory, Paul John (1910–85) physical chemist; born in Sterling, Ill. He was a pioneer in polymer chemistry, making major discoveries in the physical chemistry of macromolecules while employed at Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company (1943–48). He was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry (1974) for this work. He was affiliated with Cornell (1948–56) and Stanford (1961–75).

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Flory, Paul John 

Born June 19, 1910, in Sterling, III. American physical chemist.

Flory graduated from Manchester College in Indiana in 1931. He was a professor at Cornell University from 1948 to 1956 and executive director of research at the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research from 1956 to 1961; he became a professor at Stanford University in 1962. Flory is one of the authors of the theory of polycondensation and has made a significant contribution to the theory of polymer solutions and to the statistical mechanics of macromolecules. Methods for determining the structure and properties of macromolecules from viscosity, sedimentation, and diffusion measurements have been developed on the basis of Flo-ry’s work. Flory received a Nobel Prize in 1974.

WORKS

Principles of Polymer Chemistry. [New York] 1953.
Statisticheskaia mekhanika tsepnykh molekul. Moscow, 1971. (Translated from English.)