Science: Molded Lenses

German, British and U. S. firms are currently engaged in an active struggle for U. S. sales of the best substitute for glass, in eyeglasses, binoculars, cameras and magnifying glasses, developed since Venetians invented spectacles in the 13th Century. Roehm & Haas Co. makes Plexigum, Plexiglas, Acryloid and Acrysol in Philadelphia; Imperial Chemical Industries, Ltd. sells Diakon and Perspex from its Manhattan office; Du Pont Viscaloid Co. makes Pontalite (TIME, Sept. 21, Dec. 28) and Lucite at Kearny, N. J.

All start with derivatives of coal. All end, by means of different patented processes, with a substance called methyl methacrylate. This can be molded into lenses, rods, sheets or odd shapes. It is transparent to ultraviolet light as well as to the whole visible spectrum. It is lightweight, slightly flexible, can endure pounding, resists corrosion. It is softer than glass and scratches easily. But it can be repolished to its original brilliancy and translucency.

A month ago a fast-talking, song-publishing (Isle of Capri, Serenade in the Night) Belgian named Peter Maurice Jacques Koch de Gooreynd arrived in Manhattan with a box full of Imperial Chemical’s Perspex lenses. He immediately hired a publicity man and a Waldorf-Astoria suite, where he bounced lenses on the table, declared that he could sell eyeglasses for $1 or so a pair, binoculars for $2.50, cameras for $5.

Last week in Los Angeles a Roehm & Haas customer named E. G. Lloyd behaved more spectacularly. Calling in news photographers he pounded Acryloid eyeglasses with a machinist’s hammer (see cut).

Du Pont aims to make homely Lucite articles like buttons, ornaments and windowpanes for airplanes.