Silicon Earth: Introduction to the Microelectronics and Nanotechnology Revolution
Cambridge University Press
Edition: Illustrated, 8/17/2009
EAN 9780521879392, ISBN10: 0521879396
Hardcover, 508 pages, 25.9 x 18.5 x 3.3 cm
Language: English
Originally published in English
We are in the swirling center of the most life-changing technological revolution the Earth has ever known. In only 60 years, an eye-blink of human history, a single technological invention has launched the proverbial thousand ships, producing the most sweeping and pervasive set of changes ever to wash over humankind; changes that are reshaping the very core of human existence, on a global scale, at a relentlessly accelerating pace. And we are just at the very beginning. Silicon Earth introduces readers with little or no background to the many marvels of microelectronics and nanotechnology, using easy, non-intimidating language, with an intuitive approach using minimal math. The general scientific and engineering underpinnings of microelectronics and nanotechnology are addressed, as well as how this new technological revolution is transforming a broad array of interdisciplinary fields, and civilization as a whole. Special 'widget deconstruction' chapters address the inner workings of ubiquitous micro/nano-enabled pieces of technology such as cell phones, flash drives, GPS, DVDs, and digital cameras.
1. The communications revolution
2. A matter of scale
3. Widget deconstruction #1
cell phone
4. Innumerable biographies
a brief history of micro/nanoelectronics
5. Semiconductors – lite!
6. Widget deconstruction #2
USB flash drive
7. Bricks and mortar
micro/nanoelectronics fabrication
8. Transistors – lite!
9. Microtools and toys
MEMS, NEMS, and BioMEMS
10. Widget deconstruction #3
GPS
11. Let there be light
the bright world of photonics
12. The nano-world
fact and fiction
13. The gathering storm
societal transformations and some food-for-thought
Appendix.