Book steps back, so you can see close up

Most of you are familiar with MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) and IC processing, but nanotechnology is different. As Nanotechnology: A Gentle Introduction to the Next Big Idea by Mark Ratner and Daniel Ratner points out, things get weird when structural dimensions get down to 1 nm (1 billionth of a meter, or about the size of 10 hydrogen atoms). The standard properties you associate with materials and substances become enmeshed in quantum and wave-particle effects, Ohms's Law no longer rules, and scientists and engineers need to think about what they are doing in terms other than, "It's similar, just smaller."

Although this clearly written $24.99 paperback (ISBN 0-13-101400-8-4-5, Prentice Hall, 2003) targets knowledgeable nontechnical readers, it collects many ideas about what nanotech is doing and has the potential to do but without breathless hype. It also clears up some confusion and misconceptions I had. Best of all, it makes me stop and think about things you could develop if someone said that you had a radically different set of tools and building blocks for your design and application and that many of the old rules and constraints no longer apply.

Despite their credentials, the authors wrote this book in nonacademic style, which will help you understand that you are crossing a materials science, application, and instrumentation threshold that is changing what you can conceive of and do, often in ways that are still unclear to you. The closest parallel I can think of is the way that the IC overturned all the design rules of discrete-component design, taking it from a world in which transistors were expensive and matched pairs were unattainable to one in which they are cheaper than passives and matched performance pairs come free with the technology.

Prentice Hall, www.prenhall.com.