It is on a laboratory countertop like this one that Giulio Natta invented the isotactic polypropylene, a highly successful scientific and industrial innovation. Thanks to this molecule Natta won the Nobel Prize in 1963, giving the world a new material: plastic. Aside is a model of the molecule, used by the Professor to study and disseminate his invention. In 1947 Natta began collaborating with the Montecatini firm, starting an extraordinary cooperation between industry and university.