Weekend Conversation
In the grocery store checkout line, I ran into a collaborator. We discussed how our research was going, particular some work with nanoparticle transistors.
Afterwards, the older gentleman at the cashier asked me: Grocery Clerk: What’s a nanoparticle? Me:It’s a very small particle of a substance–maybe 5-10,000 would be the diameter of a piece of hair. [Ed note: for nanoparticles of about 5-10nm.] Grocery Clerk: Oh, so the “nano” refers to the size of the substance. So that’s the “nano” in “nanotechnology?” Me: [Surprised] Exactly!
(pause as clerk prints up the receipt)
Grocery Clerk: Wait, so this is about the scale of an Ångstrom? Me: [Incredulous] Yes, exactly! A nanometer is 10 Ångstrom and a nanoparticle is often 5-10 nanometers or maybe a bit larger.
I was stunned. Here I was trying to explain a nanometer and he already knew about an Ångstroms — it turned out he had been reading about nanotech and realized after hearing us talk that we might be able to clarify things for him.
This is the kind of conversation I like to have — someone who might not be a scientist or engineer, but who wants to be informed.
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Joerg Kurt Wegner — 1 year, 11 months ago.
That’s a communication highlight. And this sounds like someone has put two pieces of a knowledge puzzle together. That is exactly the reason why I like Wiki’s so much. Anybody can contribute to put knowledge pieces together.
Best, Joerg