Professor David Solomon has made many important contributions to basic and applied polymer chemistry. His pioneering work on the reaction kinetics of ester and alkyd polymerizations is internationally recognised and forms the basis of techniques used industrially. He has made similar advances for acrylic resins and vinyl-modified alkyd polymers. His clarification of fundamental mechanisms and interactions in glycerol/vegetable-oil reaction mixtures had led to major reassessments of theory and practice in the production and use of alkyd resins. More recently in his work on the interactions of organic compounds with mineral surfaces he has solved long-standing problems of clay colour-reactions, catalysis, and the initiation of polymerization at surfaces. The principles he has elucidated have been used to develop new industrial products within Australia and overseas. In each of these areas David wrote the definitive reference book.