Travels to the Nanoworld

By Michael Gross

Book Overview

Our lives are about to be changed by new technologies that operate on a scale too small to be seen by even the most powerful optical microscopes. Devices measured in nanometers-billionths of a meter-have set off a nanotechnology revolution. In Travels to the Nanoworld, Michael Gross takes us deep into this miniature universe and describes natural processes and new technologies that will make modern machines look like relics from the Stone Age. Starting with the model of the living cell, whose vital processes are directed and carried out by structures with dimensions on the nanometer scale, Gross shows how biochemists are beginning to understand the mechanisms of the "nanotechnology of nature." Soon science will have the knowledge and technology to generate artificial systems that will perform similar tasks, and through them will find new treatments for disease, substitutes for toxic waste, and alternatives to carbon fuel.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0738204447
• ISBN13: 9780738204444
• Release Date: January 2001
• Publisher: Basic Books
• Length: 268 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.2" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Cool, man

Gross by name, but, thankfully, not by nature. This is an excellent introduction to miniature machinery, in the realms of both nature and technology. An ideal accompaniment to Ken Dodd's "Voyages to Knotty Ash: Diddymen and their clown cars"

A good introduction to nanotech.

This book was a relatively quick read. It covers most of the basics without burying the novice (like myself) in the wealth of details in some of the more advanced books on the subject. Nanosystems and Engines of Creation are two great books for more on nanotechnology by Eric Drexler. Take a look at [...]

excellent overview

This book gives an overview of the exciting world of invisibly small things, be they natural or technological. Nature is shown to be the best engineer on the nanoscale, but human engineers are beginning to learn the lesson. While some of the contents are scientifically explicit, there are goodies for curious readers on all levels of understanding.