Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles
available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Robert L. Banks
(November 24, 1921 - January 3, 1989) was an American chemist. He was
born and grew up in Piedmont, Missouri. He attended Southeast Missouri
State University, and initiated into Alpha Phi Omega in 1940. He joined
the Phillips Petroleum company in 1946 and worked there until he retired
in 1985. He was a fellow research chemist of J. Paul Hogan. They began
working together in 1946, and in 1951 invented "crystalline
polypropylene" and high-density polyethylene (HDPE). These plastics were
initially known by the name Marlex. In 1987, the pair won the Perkin
Medal, and in 2001 they were inducted into the National Inventors Hall
of Fame. Both were given a Heroes of Chemistry award by the American
Chemical Society in 1989.
