It was up to the inventor of the artificial fiber to come up with a name for it. John W. Eckelberry, the creator of the euphonious name of the new material stated that the first part of the word was picked at random whole, the second part was chosen as a some kind of generic morpheme, present in a few other names of fibers like "cotton" or "rayon". There are a few other legends as for the origin of the name, but one remains certain: the final version of the name of the fabric nylon wasn`t ever trademarked, despite of the fact that it actually was coined.
It seems that the invention of fabric nylon was very opportune in the historical perspective. At the time of the World War II it was a very workable substitute for Asian silk in the production of parachutes along with different military supplies, like tents, ponchos, tires and others. During the wartime products of regular and household use, for example stockings, made of fabric nylon materials, were next to impossible to find, as the Federal government decreed all fabric nylon available to serve the defense needs. American press stressed the fact that people would have the possibility to have that wonder of technology in the regular supply after the war was over.
Though the strongest materials are usually believed to be those that are natural, fabric nylon has proven to be strong to the degree of being able to compete with natural fibers, like that produced from the plant called hemp. Originally hemp was utilized to produce climbing ropes, but it is no longer, as nylon is believed to make an even better rope.
One of the general uses of nylon polymers is now that of packaging materials production. Some food sheaths, like those of meat or sausages, are manufactured with the usage of nylon polymers. To state the structure of nylon, it is a polyamide, meaning that it is formed of continuously repeated units, that are bonded by amid linkages. There are a few slightly different versions of nylon, which vary in the kinds of polymers involved. The uniqueness of nylon lies in the fact that it was the fist fiber produced exclusively from inorganic components, namely water coal and air. These ingredients are further formed into special chemicals with certain characteristics, that are referred to as monomers. It is monomers that eventually, by reacting with each other, form polymer chains.
This manufactured fiber is the basic material for a great number of products as well as for secondary materials, like nylon lycra. It is also indispensable for a number of industrial uses, being the material for the production of tire cord, sleeping bags, strings for rackets, seat and conveyor belts, tents, nets, parachutes and many other articles, that are used on a daily basis.
Nowadays, the progress in the nylon development is still visible. The general formula and nylon production principle remains the same, but natural nylon is modified with a perspective to render its certain specific characteristics, like that of light weight, insulation, resistance, etc. There have been considerable achievements in this domain, but as they say, there is always the way to perfection.