Theoretical approaches to prediction of polymer properties

A brief introduction to statistical theory of polymers was provided in a popular manner, with emphasis on quantitative description of polymer liquids. This is essential in view of fact that (1) samples of synthetic polymers differ fundamentally from those of low-molecular-weight compounds by normally several orders of magnitude higher molecular weights and that (2) polymer products represent a set of molecules of individual chemical compounds in enormous number of types, which necessitates recourse to statistical approaches for their theoretical description.