Introduction to Nanotechnology , Charles P. Poole Jr and Frank J. Owens Wiley, Hoboken, NJ, 2003. $79.95 (388 pp.). ISBN 0-471-07935-9
Rarely has a scientific field created so much enthusiasm and expectation as has nanotechnology. Much of the hype is certainly the stuff of science fiction, but the exuberance, irrational or not, has quickly spread from the laboratory to Madison Avenue, Wall Street, and Washington, DC.
Nanotechnology is not a new field but rather a confluence of many fields—physics, chemical and electrical engineering, mechanics, materials science, chemistry, and biology—coming together at the nanometer scale. Much hope exists for vast improvements in each of these areas through developments in such fields as nanoelectronics, information technology, nanomachines, molecular electronics, nanotubes, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), and microfluidity. The real excitement for nanotechnology, however, is driven by the integration of nanodevices and sensors into biological systems for diagnostics, drug delivery, and homeland security. Nanotechnology has thus evolved into a particularly interdisciplinary science.
In Introduction to Nanotechnology , Charles Poole Jr and Frank Owens set out to provide the background for specialists working in one area of nanotechnology to understand and contribute to advances made in other areas. This is a formidable challenge. Having developed an introductory course on nanoscience for beginning graduate students in materials science, I was very interested whether such a broad topic could be reasonably represented in a single volume written by just two authors.
The approach adopted in this book assumes the reader is only slightly acquainted with the technical subject matter and thus provides a background for each topic. The text begins with two introductory chapters on the physics of the solid state and methods for characterizing the structure and properties of materials. Each subsequent chapter is more or less self-contained and includes introductory material, methods of synthesis, structure, properties, and in some cases, applications. Although the authors note that they cannot possibly cover every important topic in nanotechnology, they do cover most of the more important topics that would be expected—quantum dots, nanotubes, magnetoresistance, catalysis, DNA, and MEMS.
The two authors working together have maintained a consistent perspective and level throughout the book. As can be expected, however, subjects most familiar to the authors, such as ferrofluidics, are well covered while those less familiar, such as mechanical properties, lack some of the key ideas. The primary benefit from the authors’ approach is that the reader can quickly locate specific subjects and, with very little previous knowledge, obtain a brief description of them. Most topics are covered in a few paragraphs. Read in its entirety, the book provides a good appreciation of the diversity and possibilities of the field.
Although the encyclopedic style of Introduction to Nanotechnology offers quick access to information, it is not conducive to developing the underlying principles of the field. Subjects such as the thermodynamics, kinetics, lithography, and magnetic behavior of small particles are covered ad hoc as they appear in specific discussions. For example, in describing the synthesis of nanoparticles, the authors provide a few chemical equations for the overall reaction in specific examples, but they do not describe the kinetics that controls the size of the particles. Similarly, the book mentions that, compared with their bulk forms, small particles can have lowered melting temperatures, different structures, and other modified properties, but the underlying thermodynamics principles that link these behaviors are not developed. The book, therefore, would not serve well as a textbook, but that was not the authors’ main goal.
Finally, one wonders how quickly the book will become dated. Poole and Owens have attempted to choose subjects partly on the basis of maturity of the field, but clearly, some of the subjects have already moved far beyond the author’s treatment of them. The good news is that Introduction to Nanotechnology is short and can be easily revised from time to time.
