Paul Greer begins his interview with a short description of his upbringing in western Pennsylvania, where his father operated a successful business college. Greer studied chemistry at the small Grove City College, but with one year at Carnegie Institute of Technology, and then continued further studies in chemical engineering at Case. The years up to the outbreak of World War II were spent with Union Carbide, working on the early development of petrochemicals. Greer then moved to Washington, D.C., to join the War Production Board, but soon after transferred to the Office of the Rubber Director where he played an important role in process development and product quality of the butadiene-styrene rubber, GR-S. During this section of the interview technical details of the wartime program are discussed and the contributions of individuals assessed.

Greer stayed in Washington after the war, eventually becoming head of research and development for the Office of Synthetic Rubber. He elaborates on the balance between natural and synthetic rubber and the effect of the Korean War. The roles of cold rubber, oil- extended rubber and masterbatch rubber are explained as well as the patent actions with General Tire & Rubber Company. Greer reviews the lessons of the government rubber program and mentions the important individual and corporate contributions. After the wind-down of the government program, Greer joined the U.S. Army Research Office and he describes his functions during this final stage of his working life.