UNDERSTANDING NANOTECHNOLOGY: A BRIDGE TO THE FUTURE

This learning tool disappoints. Assistant Professor Sauder barely mentions nanotechnology until Lecture 7. By that time, she has described in detail the metric system and various points of elementary physics. For better or worse, the common issues that come up in the literature of nanotechnology—its value in health care, for example, or its supposed danger to the planet (“the grey goo” effect)—are mostly ignored. As narrator, the author is friendly enough, but with the frequent odd pauses and similar indicators, she is plainly reading a script—there’s no spontaneity. This is not much like a real lecture. Some knowledge is shared, however, and there’s value to be had—but not enough. The production is accompanied by a 104-page paper text—like a long crib sheet. D.R.W. © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine [Published: NOVEMBER 2011]