Made to Measure: New Materials for the 21st Century (Paperback)

~ (Author) "The next revolution in information technology will dispense with the transistor and use light, not electricity, to carry information..." (more)
Key Phrases: readout head, photorefractive behavior, surface excess energy, New Jersey, United States, Bell Laboratories (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Ball's (Designing the Molecular World, LJ 5/15/94) far-reaching work takes the reader on a long, strange, sometimes tedious, often difficult trip through the arcane world of new materials?the stuff scientists and engineers have created, or are speculating about, for propelling the high-technology boom to new heights. Ball thoroughly explores the use of what he calls advanced materials in the fields of photonics (which, he argues, will entirely replace electronics one day), information storage, biomedicine, and energy, to name a few. Something he calls smart materials will eventually replace whole machines: "[Imagine] a smart valve [that] is no more than a tube through which the fluid passes; when the flow exceeds [some] critical value, the material of the tube expands until it pinches off the flow." There are lots of good photographs and schematics for aiding the sometimes dizzying exposition. Most appropriate for interested readers with a college-level background in chemistry and physics.?Robert C. Ballou, Atlanta
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Philip Ball writes about the very modern science of materials.... [He] is full of fascinating insights, and especially on the photonic side of things he really opens the reader's eyes.... [His] book is the first to be entirely devoted to this field. That task has been very well accomplished, and the book is warmly recommended. -- Review

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Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press (September 13, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691009759
• ISBN-13: 978-0691009759
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #984,365 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent overview of vast topic-materials for 21st century, November 19, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Made to Measure (Hardcover)

This is a very delightful book. The author is excellent at covering technical details in a charming recounting of the evolutiion of ideas and his depth of knowledge is impressive. This was a labor of love and it shows in all the details. There are many pictures and graphics that compliment the text and these help to keep the reader pushing for more. It is a comprehensive yet story-like overview.Makes you feel well informed enough to consider designing smarter materials yourself........

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Made to enjoy, April 30, 2003

By	"mipsv" (Boston) - See all my reviews

This is a well done book.
Its not a technical book (but good pointers) yet not non-technical popular-mechanics type work. This book describes what science is pretty much all about! Its easy to get bogged down in your own world of work so a book such as this helps get your eyes open to the possibilities of the opportunites that come from hard, hard work. :)

This book talks about whats going on at the molecular level of things (my version is 1997). For the non-specialist this book is just great though I suppose if you work in micro-optics or semi/super conductors you might find that research is moving on a bit.

things discussed:
Optics (photonic material), superconductors, medicine & applications: biomaerials (chapt 4 - my fav), biomedical materials (cool), polymers, smart materials. energy, and more.

there is also a rather extensive bibliography so you can look for more info with Google.com(r) or other site.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fantastic overview!, August 26, 2000

By	Emily Ma (Vancouver, British Columbia) - See all my reviews

Philip Ball argues for the increasing importance of materials in the future and does so eloquently and clearly. He invites the layman into the complexities of material science and sparks great interest in this field without burdening the audience with superfluous technical detail. This is a must-read for those curious about the future of engineering as a whole!