Polymer Engineering Science and Viscoelasticity

This text is an outgrowth or organized compilation of the notes the authors have used to teach an introductory course on the viscoelasticity of polymers for more than thirty years for the senior author and about fifteen years for the junior author. Originally, the course was taught only to graduate students but in recent years an effort has been made to teach a modification of the course to senior level mechanical engineering students. The authors have long held the view that the lack of knowledge of the fundamental aspects of the time and temperature behavior of polymer materials is a serious shortcoming in undergraduate as well as graduate engineering education.