Felice Frankel

No Small Matter (Chinese Edition)

University of Science and Technology of China Press (2014)

Reviews

A small revolution is remaking the world. The only problem is, we can’t see it. No Small Matter uses images and descriptions to reveal the virtually invisible realities and possibilities of nanoscience. An introduction to the science and technology of small things, No Small Matter explains science on the nanoscale.

Felice and George M. Whitesides offer an overview of recent scientific advances that have given us our ever-shrinking microtechnology—for instance, an information processor connected by wires only 1,000 atoms wide. They describe the new methods used to study nanostructures, suggest ways of understanding their often bizarre behavior, and outline their uses in technology. The book explains the various means of making nanostructures and speculates about their importance for critical developments in information processing, computation, biomedicine, and other areas.

No Small Matter considers both the benefits and the risks of nano/microtechnology—from the potential of quantum computers and single-molecule genomic sequencers to the concerns about self-replicating nanosystems. By making the practical and probable realities of nanoscience as comprehensible and clear as possible, the book provides a unique vision of work at the very boundaries of modern science.

Reviews

Holy cow! It’s exceptionally rare that science is rendered in such lucid, thoughtful, charming fashion. But I am not sure I’ve ever encountered a beautiful book as important as this one, or vice-versa. ‘Awesome’ is an overused phrase these days, but No Small Matter is exactly, totally, gratifyingly that.Kurt Andersen, author of Fantasyland and host of public radio’s Studio 360

It is hard to grasp what we cannot see, even harder when not even a microscope can see it. With unmatched clarity and arresting elegance, Frankel and Whitesides have designed a narrative and visual voyage into the nanouniverse, revealing its basic constructs without sacrificing its magic.Paola Antonelli, senior curator of Architecture and Design and director of research and development at The Museum of Modern Art

[Frankel and Whitesides] present a game, insightful attempt to illustrate reality at the very smallest scales, where lengths are measured in billionths of a meter… Frankel’s intricate work reveals a world of unexpected textures and landscapes… This visual and intellectual treat is best absorbed at leisure, with ample time for pondering the new relationships each topic reveals.Publishers Weekly