The world around us provides enormous opportunities for understanding science. Arguably, it has been one of humankind’s greatest inspirations for many, if not most, inventions, art, and other creations. Nature offers us specific nanotechnology lessons and is the subject of a new book from Morgan & Claypool Publishers. Nanotechnology: Lessons from Nature — Discoveries, Research, and Applications, by Deb Newberry of Newberry Technology Associates, will be published later this month.
This new book covers 21 different phenomena that have been observed in nature and puzzled about for decades. Diving into five ecosystems— the ocean, insects, flora, fauna, and humans — Newberry offers observations to help readers understand the relationship between the more easily observed macro level and understanding what is found at the nanoscale.
The book summary points out how “the development of microscopes and other tools allow us to study, evaluate, and test these observed phenomena at the molecular and atomic scale… From the strength of a marine sponge found at the depths of the oceans, to the insect-hydroplaning surface of the edge of a plant, to the intricacies of the eyes of a moth, nanotechnology has allowed science to define and understand these amazing capabilities. In many cases, this new understanding has been applied to products and applications that benefit humans and the environment.”
This book is for sale in the retail market on all major platforms and can be purchased directly from Morgan & Claypool Publishers here. It is also available to institutions with access to Synthesis Digital Library Collection 11 here. This is the second book they have published by Ms. Newberry, the first being titled Nanotechnology Past and Present: Leading to Science, Engineering, and Technology (2020).
Deb Newberry, Founder and CEO of Newberry Technology Associates, is a consultant to the MNT-EC. She has been involved with research, emerging technology, and nanotechnology for several decades. She served as the Director/Instructor of the Nanoscience Technician program at Dakota County Technical College in Rosemount MN from 2004–2018. She created the 72-credit nanoscience technician program in 2003 and began the program with National Science Foundation funding. Deb also served as the Director and Principal Investigator of the Center for Nanotechnology Education, Nano-Link, for 10-plus years with over $12M from the National Science Foundation.
If you want to learn more about how nature and nanotechnology go together, you can also check out the NNCI page: Nature Helps Technology. The National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI), established in 2015, is supported by 16 individual cooperative agreements from the National Science Foundation. NNCI is also an Advanced Technological Education (ATE) Partner with MNT-EC.
