Polymeric materials are present in almost every aspect of our modern lives: packaging, textiles, household appliances, automobiles, electronic components, medical prostheses, and much more. However, the science behind their mechanical and thermal behaviour is complex and not usually accessible to the public or pre-university students.

Viscoelasticity is a phenomenon of fundamental importance in the understanding of the behavior of polymeric materials. Mechanical properties of polymers are of course temperature-dependent, but are also time-dependent. It is useful to visualize this aspect as a prelude to a…