How many items can you think of that are made of plastic? Probably quite a few! It might be hard to imagine a world without plastic, but until about 100 years ago, plastic as we know it today didn\'t exist. The word "plastic" wasn\'t even used until the 1920s. In this volume, readers learn how many types of plastic were invented accidentally by scientists who were trying to make something else. Accessible, fun content describes how these discoveries were made and how they would go on to change the world in ways both big and small.