Small things do matter !

So,most of us find the word NANO highly intriguing .Isn’t it ? Most of us like small things be it a baby , a puppy or a kitten.Nano is about something which is way smaller . It’s much smaller than u can actually imagine. It is 5-6 orders of magnitude smaller than an ant . So,we might think what is the use of something so small ? The small things always matter because they make up the bigger ones . Properties become really different when we go to the nano scale . For instance,gold is red in color. Unbelievable isn’t it ? We are used to saying golden color and stuff .Have we ever thought gold could be red in color ?The chemical properties also change due to quantum effects .That gives rise to unique properties which has evoked interest in this field .Even nature has its own share of nanoscale components . Lizards have nano particles on their foot to help them move.This is just one of the many examples . Nature always builds anything from smaller particles and Man mimics nature to manufacture the things he wants.This is called Bottom-Up approach where nano particles are built from smaller raw materials.But this has its own disadvantages.It is highly tough to get particles smaller than nano.And due to small size and repulsion,building up of particles also becomes tough. Hence,materials scientists have come up with a different and better approach of the reverse process known as the Top-Down approach .This is much simpler as this involves size reduction processes and not assembling process.Nano research started in the 80s around the world . This is coincident with the invention of the scanning electron microscope which helped in analysing minute components.India are quite late in nano research with most of the research happening in the late 90s .Most of the credits have to go to one man and that is Dr. C.N.R.Rao . He is the spearhead of India’s nano research and the newly opened institutes function under him. Not many of us know about this man . Well,he won the Bharat Ratna along with Sachin . But it’s not solely our fault on not knowing about research in various fields. We read and get to know about things which are being fed to us by the media. India produces more engineers and very few scientists . This has got to change in the near future and we need to produce and respect more scientists. Science and engineering go hand in hand and it’s high time we do higher level research and show the world who we are