Hermann Staudinger (1881-1965), German organic chemist, in a laboratory. Staudinger was the founder of polymer chemistry. He initially worked on the aroma agents of coffee and he also discovered ketenes. In the 1920s he began to study rubber and was the first to suggest that it was made of large, strand-like molecules, or polymers. At first his view was opposed but the results from studying rubber with X-rays proved his theory. In the 1930s, Staudinger turned his attention to the action of biological polymers. Synthetically-produced polymers have since found a variety of uses. In 1953, Staudinger was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.