TAMIL
On nanotechnology
SHYAM RANGANATHAN
NANO — Adutha Puratchi: Mohan Sundara Rajan; Published by National Book Trust, Nehru Bhavan, 5, Institutional Area, Phase-II, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi-110070. Price Rs.80.
IN THE popular consciousness today, nanotechnology and biotechnology are what the computer and space travel must have been three or four decades ago: fields where the dividing line between science and science fiction gets blurred. And most schoolchildren dream of becoming another Einstein and are attracted to one or the other field, inspired no doubt by famous personalities prophesying a revolution.
This translation of Mohan Sundara Rajan's ‘Nano: The Next Revolution' provides a concise and interesting introduction to nanoscience and nanotechnology, and conjectures on the roads ahead.
Surprisingly, considerable attention is paid to the imagined uses and abuses of a technology that is at a very preliminary stage. The book abounds in references to books and articles but, sadly, lacks a bibliography. Many of the terms are translated too literally, making it difficult for anyone to follow the more recent developments. With the Tamil Nadu government vigorously moving to make Tamil the medium of instruction in engineering courses, this book should help resolve at least some of the students' problems related to the switching of the medium from English.
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