Nanocosmos Arquitecture

A journey Inside the Matter

English edition

Spanish to English translation: Elizabeth Schwartz, Francisco González

Nanocosmos Architecture is a journey inside matter to explore the fascination of form, composition and size.

The privilege provided by the valuable instrumental endowment that we have received from the XX century, allows us to move toward a scale that offers a wonderful universe of forms and processes with a “reality” sensitive to its surroundings and architecture. Admire the complexity of the network of interconnections between atoms, molecules and particles that harmonize in the collectivity, to deliver an endless world of possibilities that feed the creativity.

We are learning from nature and its diversity, lessons that will carry us to conquer the states of self-organizing, replicating and self-assembling. This allows us to access the domains of the design and construction of the matter from a scale that is creating a trend in the new era of nanoscience and nanotechnology.

We hope our readers enjoy the material printed in this book as much as we have enjoyed the journey that we embarked to produce and collect these snapshots of the nanocosmos architecture and translate them into the language of image and color.

Preface

It is a privilege to have been asked to write the foreword of the English edition of Architecture of the nanocosmos. Professor Edgar González has introduced me to the wonderful world of nanoscience and nanotechnology, and has given me the opportunity to learn about one of the most amazing scientific advances of the last few decades.

This experience was greatly enriched when the first edition of this book, the Spanish version, was published back in 2013. I must say, to begin with, that it is extremely important that this publication is now being made available to a much larger audience.

From page one onwards, the book is full of surprises. It is, as the authors indicate, a trip to the interior of matter to explore the fascination of shape, composition and size. They have taken photographs of the architecture of the nanocosmos and have transferred them to the language of image and color. In other words, they have made artistic representations of the architecture of the nanocosmos.

From a clear and simple explanation of what is understood as a nanoparticle, and of the relationships between shape, size, color and composition, the authors move on to describe how in early historic times, the concept was used by artists to produce different visual effects.

As a naturalist, I am particularly impressed by the chapter on “Architecture in nature: inspiration for nanotechnology”. I was always amazed at the structure, for example, of a pollen grain when seen under the Scanning Electron Microscope. Now I know that “there is more to it than meets the eye”. Reading the description and looking at the images of the wings of a butterfly or the iridescence of a beetle, one marvels at the influence that nanoparticles have in the perceived colors of these organisms. Even as striking is the effect that the presence of nanoparticles has on the superhydrophobic character of certain plant leaves. In fact, the surface of the leaf has microscopic and nanoscopic structures that allow it, for example, to clean itself.

The English version of the book has been enriched with elements taken from the exhibit “Art and Science: convergences and divergences”. The examples just mentioned serve to show how science and art go hand in hand. Science is based on the need to understand how nature works, and scientists are in a continuous quest to reach new levels of understanding. By using truly artistic images, the authors seek to inspire our creativity and to induce our mind to explore a new cosmos by looking further and further into the matter.

The importance of nanoscience and nanotechnology for humanity can be measured in terms of their industrial, environmental and social impact. The discovery of new materials, the potential toxicity of nanoparticles and nanotubes, and the need to regulate the use and applications of nanomaterials, are only some of the areas in which nanoscience and nanotechnology are affecting our lives now and will affect them even more in the future.

The book Architecture of the nanocosmos constitutes a most welcome contribution to society as it points to the wonders of this “new world” that is opening to new generations of scientists and artists. I join Professor Nelson Obregón, who wrote the foreword to the Spanish version, in thanking Dr. Edgar González and Dr. Victor Puntes for giving us this book of considerable value to humanity.

Dr. Enrique Forero

President

Colombian Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences

Bogotá, D.C., Colombia