AllMovie

Because the British merchant fleet needed an edge to compete with the Dutch in the 1600s, a series of discoveries led to the production of the first of the modern plastics, nylon. In Connections: Long Chain, host and author James Burke discusses the problems of the British, who needed a substance to protect the hulls of their ships. Coal tar, gas lights, waterproofing, new dyes, malaria, quinine, copper-bottomed ships, the German Navy, and calcium carbide all figure into the story, as Burke delivers another entertaining and educational science program.