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Word: monomolecular (lookup in dictionary) (lookup stats)
Dates: during 1940-1949
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Usage:

Hair Oil & Aluminum. The polished surface of the mirror was transparent glass, still to be covered with a reflecting film of aluminum. Before this could be done, the glass had to be cleaned perfectly. The trick was to cover the surface with a "monomolecular layer" (one molecule thick) of a fatty acid to keep dust off the glass. This process sounds formidably scientific, but in practice the glass was covered with a well-advertised brand of hair oil (essentially an emulsion of lanolin), and the excess wiped off carefully with special wool flannel...

Author: /time Magazine | Title: Science: Look Upward | 2/9/1948 | See Source »

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