Abstract A new method of obtaining the kinetic parameters from thermogravimetric curves has been proposed. The method is simple and applicable to reactions which can not be analyzed by other methods. The effect of the heating rate on thermogravimetric curves has been elucidated, and the master curve of the experimental curves at different heating rates has been derived. The applications of the method to the pyrolyses of calcium oxalate and nylon 6 have been shown ; the results are in good agreement with the reported values. The applicability of the method to other types of thermal analyses has been discussed, and the method of the conversion of the data to other conditions of temperature change has been suggested. From these discussions, the definition of the thermal stability of materials has been criticized.