The Story of Nanotechnology and how Size Really Does Matter

Nanotechnology is a buzz word many of us have heard but are uncertain as to what it really means. It is an area of research that generated an enormous amount of hype in the early 2000s, and since then has touched on many aspects of our everyday lives without our even realizing. It is a field that brings together aspects of physics, chemistry, biology, engineering and medicine. Although it is recognized that it was kick-started by the invention of the Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM) in the early 1980s, there are examples of applications of nanotechnology, albeit unwittingly, going back Millenia. Size Really Does Matter: The Nanotechnology Revolution gives an account of the origins of the field, presented from the standpoint of fundamental science. The book shows how nanotechnology is, in fact, an inevitable consequence of our desire to make ever smaller things.

Written by Dr Colm Durkan, Reader in Nanoscale Engineering at the University of Cambridge, the book tells the story of the development of nanotechnology starting with medieval times and the beginnings of the scientific method, to an overview of classical science and then moves onto how the discovery of quantum mechanics at the turn of the 20th century turned all of this on its head. This opens the window into the fact that small (i.e. nanometre-sized) objects behave differently to larger objects, which is the founding principle of nanotechnology. There are detailed discussions on nanomaterials and how the properties of materials can be tuned by changing their size, with plenty of everyday examples; how we explore and see nanostructures, as they are too small to see using conventional microscopes; how nanotechnology has revolutionized the electronics and semiconductor industry, how it is being used in medicine to diagnose and treat disease and finally, on the risks associated with the uncharted properties of highly-reactive nanoparticles. The book is firmly rooted in fact and works to dispel the myths and unravel the truth about this branch of science and technology that has already touched many aspects of our lives.

Size Really Does Matter is written in an accessible style with genuine enthusiasm for the topics it addresses, and is aimed at the general reader, but with plenty to keep undergraduates on their toes. Dr Durkan was inspired to write this book having given many talks on nanotechnology to lay audiences, during which he saw that there was a real appetite amongst the general public to find out more without being lost in details or being patronized.

This book retails for US$58 / £38. To know more about the book visit https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/q0197.

EurekAlert!, the online, global news service operated by AAAS, the science society: https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-03/ws-tso032219.php