I would like to bring to your attention a recent Perspective published in Polymer Chemistry that highlights an important terminology issue in polymer science. (1) The terms step-growth polymerization and chain-growth polymerization are probably quite familiar to most of you. But are they entirely clear and sufficiently descriptive to categorize all polymerizations? Well, after reading this Perspective, like me you will probably conclude that the answer to both questions is “no”. As a specific example, I think you will be interested in Paul Flory’s take on the issue and associated definitions. Also, you may not have considered how these terms translate from English into other languages which can also be problematic. The authors of this work, who are all members of the Subcommittee on Polymer Terminology in the Polymer Division of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), have done a wonderful job looking into this dilemma and have clearly described their findings. I commend them for addressing this issue and thank them for bringing it to the attention of the community. Clarity in scientific terms is so critical for scientific communication and education. As someone who has taught polymer chemistry to both undergraduates and graduate students, I certainly feel the strong obligation to convey important concepts so fundamental to the discipline in a manner that is clear and understandable. I am sure many of you at the delivering or receiving end of polymer chemistry education can appreciate this. To this end, I fully endorse and support the work of IUPAC, and that includes development of “tools for the clear communication of chemical knowledge around the world.” In the conclusion of their publication the authors welcome input, feedback, and thoughts from the community by emailing them at: polymer.terminology@iupac.org. I encourage you to have a look at their Perspective and provide them with comments on this important issue. In the next order of business, it is very much my pleasure to welcome Bradley Olsen as the newest addition to the group of Associate Editors here at Macromolecules. He brings broad ranging interests and expertise, and I am very much looking forward to working with him as a member of the team starting in July of this year. Brad received his bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering in 2003 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering in 2007 from the University of California─Berkeley where he worked with Rachel Segalman on studies of self-assembly in semiconducting block copolymers. He then performed postdoctoral research at the California Institute of Technology with (our very own!) Zhen-Gang Wang, David Tirrell, and Julia Kornfield, studying the physics of engineered protein hydrogels. Brad started in the Department of Chemical Engineering at MIT in 2010 where he is currently the Alexander and I. Michael (1960) Kasser Professor. His current research combining experiments with theory and informatics focuses on engineered protein polymers, polymer networks, sustainability, and the development of new tools for accelerating materials innovation. (2−5) Brad is a fellow of the American Chemical Society and a recipient of the Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, the Alfred P. Sloan Award, the AIChE Colburn Award, and recently the ACS Macro Letters/Biomacromolecules/Macromolecules Young Investigators Award in 2021. Please join me in welcoming Brad to the team! Here’s to a productive and healthy summer! Best regards, Marc A. Hillmyer Macromolecules Editor-in-Chief This article references 5 other publications. This article has not yet been cited by other publications. This article references 5 other publications.

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社论

我想提请您注意最近发表在《聚合物化学》上的《透视》这突出了聚合物科学中的一个重要术语问题。(1) 术语逐步增长聚合和链增长聚合可能对你们大多数人都很熟悉。但它们是否完全清晰且描述性足以对所有聚合进行分类？好吧，在阅读完这篇 Perspective 之后，您可能会像我一样得出结论，这两个问题的答案都是“否”。作为一个具体的例子，我想你会对 Paul Flory 对这个问题的看法和相关定义感兴趣。此外，您可能没有考虑这些术语如何从英语翻译成其他语言，这也可能是有问题的。这项工作的作者都是国际纯粹与应用化学联盟 (IUPAC) 聚合物部聚合物术语小组委员会的成员，在研究这一困境方面做得非常出色，并清楚地描述了他们的发现。我赞扬他们解决这个问题，并感谢他们提请社区注意。科学术语的清晰性对于科学传播和教育至关重要。作为向本科生和研究生教授高分子化学的人，我当然感到有责任以清晰易懂的方式传达对该学科至关重要的重要概念。我相信你们中的许多人在高分子化学教育的交付或接受端都可以理解这一点。为此，我完全赞同和支持 IUPAC 的工作，其中包括开发“用于在世界范围内清晰地交流化学知识的工具”。” 在他们的出版结束时，作者欢迎来自社区的意见、反馈和想法，请发送电子邮件至：polymer.terminology@iupac.org。我鼓励你看看他们的观点，并为他们提供关于这个重要问题的评论。在接下来的工作中，我非常高兴欢迎 Bradley Olsen 成为 Macromolecules 副主编组的最新成员。他带来了广泛的兴趣和专业知识，我非常期待从今年 7 月开始作为团队成员与他一起工作。Brad 于 2003 年在麻省理工学院获得化学工程学士学位，并获得博士学位。2007 年在加州大学伯克利分校获得化学工程博士学位，在那里他与 Rachel Segalman 一起研究半导体嵌段共聚物的自组装。然后，他在加州理工学院与（我们自己的！）Zhen-Gang Wang、David Tirrell 和 Julia Kornfield 一起进行博士后研究，研究工程蛋白水凝胶的物理学。Brad 于 2010 年开始在麻省理工学院化学工程系工作，目前他是 Alexander and I. Michael (1960) Kasser 教授。他目前的研究将实验与理论和信息学相结合，专注于工程蛋白质聚合物、聚合物网络、可持续性以及加速材料创新的新工具的开发。(2−5) Brad 是美国化学学会的会员，并且获得了 Camille Dreyfus 教师学者奖、Alfred P. Sloan 奖、AIChE Colburn 奖，以及最近获得的 以及开发用于加速材料创新的新工具。(2−5) Brad 是美国化学学会的会员，并且获得了 Camille Dreyfus 教师学者奖、Alfred P. Sloan 奖、AIChE Colburn 奖，以及最近获得的 以及开发用于加速材料创新的新工具。(2−5) Brad 是美国化学学会的会员，并且获得了 Camille Dreyfus 教师学者奖、Alfred P. Sloan 奖、AIChE Colburn 奖，以及最近获得的2021 年ACS Macro Letters/Biomacromolecules/Macromolecules Young Investigators Award。请和我一起欢迎 Brad 加入团队！这是一个富有成效和健康的夏天！最好的问候， Marc A. Hillmyer Macromolecules 主编 本文引用了其他 5 篇出版物。这篇文章尚未被其他出版物引用。本文引用了其他 5 篇出版物。