positions of matter which have desirable mechanical and use characteristics at increasingly higher temperatures as well as at low and ambient temperatures have directed the attention of investigators to systems which are either strictly inorganic or inorganic-organic in character (1). Efforts are now being made to develop polymeric materials (thermosetting and thermoplastic substances, elastomers, adhesives, coatings, hydraulic fluids, etc.) which contain skeletal frameworks involving linkages between elemental species other than carbon.Although polymerization phenomena have usually been associated with organic chemical processes, there are many instances where simple inorganic substances can be converted from smaller molecular or ionic units into larger aggregates. However, with the increasing emphasis on the application of structural concepts and with the use of experimental methods and procedures which help to define more precisely the structures of molecules and ions, modern inorganic chemistry has become more and more the chemistry of matter in a highly polymerized state.The marked influence of the structural and organizational concepts of organic chemistry upon the development of inorganic chemistry is self-evident. In the first place it was not until the inorganic chemists followed their organic colleagues into the realm of structural chemistry that real progress was seen. Secondly, the properties of inorganic aggregates can be modified through introduction of organic groups and radicals so that the advantages of both organic and inorganic systems can be incorporated into a single substance. The silicone type polymers may be cited as examples. And finally, the experimental methods useful for preparing organic polymers can be adapted to inorganic systems. It is the purpose of this presentation to direct attention primarily to polymerization processes, rather than to the products themselves.There are three principal categories of inorganic reactions which lead to the formation of substances of higher molecular weight: condensation reactions which Based upon a paper presented before the Division of Polymer Chemistry at the 134th Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Chicago, Illinois, September, 1958. Sponsorship of these studies through a grant from the National Science Foundation, NSF-G-2743, is acknowledged with gratitude. This is the first in a series of three papers on this topic to be published in the Journal of Chemical Education. Subsequent articles will be concerned with the formation of higher molecular weight species through addition polymerization reactions and through coordination processes,1 At present, serving as Scientific Attache at the American Embassy, Bonn, Germany.(III), cobalt(lll), titanium(III), thorium(IV), and