FAB: The Coming Revolution on Your Desktop--from Personal Computers to Personal Fabrication.FAB: The Coming Revolution on Your Desktop--from Personal Computers to Personal Fabrication fabrication (fab´rikā´sh  n),n the construction or making of a restoration. NEIL GERSHENFELD Neil Gershenfeld is a professor at MIT and the head of MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms, a sister lab spun out of the popular MIT Media Lab. His research interests are mainly in interdisciplinary studies involving physics and computer science, in such fields as quantum computing, One day, people will be able to make almost anything they want with the help of a personal fabricator (PF). Though this may sound like science fiction, scientist-inventor Gershenfeld points out that the now-ubiquitous personal computer also was once thought impossible, Indeed, rudimentary PFs are already in use in various parts of the world. For instance, under Gershenfeld's guidance, Boston innercity children now instruct machines to make jewelry that the kids then sell. This book focuses on an impending im·pend intr.v. im·pend·ed, im·pend·ing, im·pends 1. To be about to occur: Her retirement is impending. 2. technological revolution: invention machines that make manufacturing as accessible as ideas are today. Gershenfeld, who directs the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Massachusetts Institute of Technology, at Cambridge; coeducational; chartered 1861, opened 1865 in Boston, moved 1916. It has long been recognized as an outstanding technological institute and its Sloan School of Management has notable programs in business, Center for Bits and Atoms, describes his attempts to foment fo·ment tr.v. fo·ment·ed, fo·ment·ing, fo·ments 1. To promote the growth of; incite. 2. To treat (the skin, for example) by fomentation. this revolution through "fab labs." Several such laboratories are already enabling would-be inventors, from the Boston kids to U.S. college students to farmers in India, to make objects and machines that meet their unique needs. The author explains how the tools in future fab labs can evolve from current computers and how the new machines will work. However, the book's main focus is its stories of ingenuity by ordinary people given the right tools. Basic, 2005, 278 p., hardcover, b&w illus. and photos, $26.00. |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion