THE PLACE OF PLANT OIL DERIVED PRODUCTS AS SUSTAINABLE REPLACEMENT FOR PETROCHEMICAL PRODUCTS IN INDUSTRIES

Abstract

If or suppose a well informed non-scientist is asked to mention some important scientific advances of the last couple of centuries you would find the reply including such topics as the invention of radio, colour television, laser and computers. When a scientist is asked the same question, the reply will probably include a mention of Maxwell's theory of electromagnetic radiation, the quantum theory, its extension into quantum mechanics and the theory of relativity. Why this remarkable difference in the two sets of answers? It is because there is a serious discrepancy between the public's and scientist's idea of science. Oftentimes, the non-scientists list advances in technology for advances in science (Williams, 1990). Science is studied with the main objective of discovering the earth. Science may be defined as an intellectual activity carried out to discover information about our natural world and to discover the ways the information can be organized into meaningful patterns to discern the order that exist between and among the facts (Gottlieb, 1997).