Definitions, General Scope, and Limitations of Resinography

Abstract

Science is based on description. Even before the scientific age, natural materials were described in terms of visible and sensible properties, such as color, odor, feel, relative density, and so on. Since most materials are complex, it soon became necessary to consider composition (that is, the kind and proportion of individual recognizable components present in the combination). Only then could the material be depended upon for some intended purpose, let us say building a house. These three aspects of materials are worth considering more carefully:

• Description is the graphic (vivid) recording of an image or impression, either in words or by means of a picture. It may be general or detailed, and on any scale.

• Composition includes the qualitative and quantitative statement of components. The source of information is analysis, and the derived facts need analytical interpretation.

• Properties are characteristic qualities or quantities (numbers) which serve to identify a material in a unique way, either as a peculiarity or as an attribute common to members of a class.