Tag Archives: METCO Global

Nanotechnology-themed children’s and young adult’s books

Thanks to the Oct. 12, 2013 news item on Nanotechnology Now, I found out about two new series, of nanotechnology-themed books,

METCO Global released 11 new humorous/educational nanotechnology children books to educate and entertain young readers about nanotechnology

Marketed as NanobotsforKids.com, the six fully illustrated children books and five partially illustrated young adult books are designed to educate and entertain readers of all ages about the strengths and advantages of nanotechnology.

This new series focuses on two nanotechnology characters, Nano and Nana, who apply unique nanotechnology skills to overcome many of today’s ills and make the world a better place. Author, Mark Tomassoni said, “Nano and Nana encounter a full range of strange and powerful forces in remote areas of the nano-world. They apply their vast powers of super computing, genomics, biomechanics, and artificial intelligence to overcome illnesses, pollution, starvation, and intergalactic communication.”

I have checked out the NanobotsforKids.com website as I’m quite intrigued by this project. it’s a very engaging site and I think a lot of thought has been put into it. The artwork is delightful and the activities are fun (I still like to color on occasion). Still, I wish there had been more user testing of the website before publicizing the books in this way.

I appreciate that the author/publisher makes previews of his books available but I would like more information about Tomassoni’s perspective on the current state of nanotechnology especially given the titles of his children’s books (each of which features nanobots) and his comments highlighted in a passage above (” … vast powers of supercomputing genomics, …). The term, nanobot, is problematic since there are no nanobots. Nonetheless the term is used a lot in fiction/movies/tv and there’s a long tradition of fictionalizing science in ways that aren’t necessarily scientifically sound. My hesitation with this endeavor is that the books are meant to be educational and, shy of buying the books, there’s no way to tell if Tomassoni has made it clear that his version of nanotechnology is highly imaginative (It seems to have been influenced by the ‘singularity‘ community) and that there are no such things as nanobots.

Oddly, as of today (Oct. 14, 2013), you cannot purchase a book on Tomassoni’s website as the e-commerce capability is ‘under construction’. Plus, only the children’s books are available on his website. It is possible to buy at least some of the books, children’s and young adults, on Amazon.com in Kindle and/or paper editions.