The material without which Hollywood films would not exist
Jordi Díaz Marcos
Faculty of Chemistry
Sometimes, history takes unexpected turns. One such curious twist occurred in the mid-19th century and began with a seemingly trivial object: a billiard ball. That small object would go on to set in motion a story worthy of a film.
The need to replace the ivory used to make billiard balls led to the invention of a new and extraordinary material: celluloid. Regarded as the first semi-synthetic plastic, this material not only paved the way for the future age of plastics, but also played a key role in the early systems for capturing and projecting moving images. Without it, cinema — and indeed Hollywood — would probably not exist as we know them today.
From billiard balls to Hollywood
By the mid-19th century, billiards had become all the rage and was generating huge sums of money. One of its leading figures was Michael Phelan, probably the most famous player of the era.
This article was originally published in The Conversation.