In the daily world, polymers are all around you. Plastics, synthetic textiles and rubber are polymers. Polymers are found in composite sporting goods and automobiles. Of these, only polymers have the richness of structure needed for the manifold functions of life-forms.
Polymers have ten different kinds of phase transitions.
Non-polymers have only five. When polymers were first introduced this may have been the case, but not anymore. Now polymers are the materials of choice for many applications. NIST does not conduct routine tests that can be competently performed by private testing laboratories. Rubber extends and retracts from very big stretches and we use it for things from rubber bands to artificial finger joints and automobile tires.