The power of imperfections : a key to technology, love, life and survival /

"Perfection is a fiction. In cooking we demand minute traces of herbs and spices to add flavour. All technologies are similar since only when we add impurities do the materials meet our needs. This is true for everything from making Stone Age tools to semiconductors, steel, glass optical fibres...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author:	Townsend, P. D. (Peter David) (Author)
Format:	eBook
Language:	English
Published:	Oxford ; New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2022]
Subjects:	Science > Philosophy. Imperfection. Science > Study and teaching > Philosophy. Sciences > Étude et enseignement > Philosophie. Applied Sciences. Philosophy & Social Aspects. Science > Philosophy Imperfection Science > Study and teaching > Philosophy Electronic books.
Online Access:	Connect to the full text of this electronic book

Table of Contents:

1 Before we begin
2 The case for technological imperfections
3 Cookery and technological spices
4 A short log of technology from wood
5 Reader beware
6 Key features of chemistry and solids
7 Examples of new glass technologies
8 Optical fibre communication
9 Beauty from imperfections
10 Valuable imperfections in crystal lattices
11 Impurities and the growth of semiconductors
12 Small anomalies and long-range consequences
13 Photonics in the twenty-first century
14 Chemistry and catalysis
15 Imperfections in music
16 Evolution achieved through imperfections
17 Hints for a successful scientific career
18 Science in the realm of opinion
19 Improving our future lives
20 The greatest challenges that we face.