Plastic crystals were discovered in 1938 by Belgian chemist Jean Timmermans by their anomalously low melting entropy. He found that organic substances having a melting entropy lower than approximately 17 J·K ·mol (~2Rg) are having peculiar properties. Timmermans named them molecular globulare. Michils showed in 1948 that these organic compounds are easily deformed and accordingly named them, plastic crystals (cristaux organiques plastiques).