The Split and the Structure: Twenty-Eight Essays by Rudolf Arnheim (review)

THE SPLITAND THE ESSAYS by Rudolf Arnheim. University of California Press, Berkeley, CA,U.S.A., 1996. 184 pp. Paperback. ISBN: 0-520-20478-6. Xevinued by Istvan Hargittai, University of North Carolina at Wilmington, 1996-1 997 (on leavefrom the Budafiest Technical University ).E-mail: . tern were not addressed. The issues the book addresses are critical to the future of cyberlife. Artists http://userwww.sfu.edu/-swilron and other readers of Leonard0will find the book a useful resource for informing their work in the future. It is strongly recommended. NANOTECHNOLOGY edited by B.C. Crandall. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, U.S.A., 1996. 214 pp. $17.00. ISBN: 0-262-53137-2. Reuiewed by Istvcin Hargittai, University o f North Carolina at Wilmington, 1996-1 997 (onleavefrom the Budapest Technical University ). E-mail: . Nanotechnology,still a frontier science, deals with the invention, construction, characterization and utilization of molecular devices that have dimensionsbetween 1 and 100 nanometers (nm).One nm is 1 x 10-9m or 10AngstrGms (A). Atomic sizes are in the order of LgstrGrns. The diameter of the buckyball , the spherical (truncated icFsahedral -shaped) C60molecule, is 7 A or 0.7 nm, and the structural units in the DNA moleculeoarerepeated at intervalsof some 34 A-that is, at 3.4 nm. Thus, building modules of tens-of-nanometer size contain quite a few atoms,yet these devices are immenselysmaller than anything we could have imagined in our bulk environment until recently. Molecular devices,switches, wiring, tubing, encapsulating , etc. are opening new perspectivesfor technology, being at the same time economical on an unprecedented scale as well as environmentfriendly . This book presents staggering possibilitiesfor applications, from cosmetic nanosurgery to molecular computers . Given the enormity of nanotechnology ’spotential applications, the book is reserved. It is also carefullyannotated. The tone is set in the introductory chapter by the editor, and the reader is gently guided into the molecular world on a nanoscale. The discussion is nootechnical , yet scientific rigor is not sacrificed . The author is meticulous without appearing pedantic in charting the historical background leading up to the emergence of nanotechnology. Topics such as the discovery of the periodic system of the elements, the dangers of the depletion of the ozone layer or the essence of the Rutherford atom model are all discussed with some facts and a good understanding. The notes complement the main text with more data and sufficiently detailed references . The diversity of the rest of the chapters augments the editor’s panoramic introduction well, and various Reviews 237 ...