infocus #7 September 2007 Seeing the Future

Chris Ewels argues that an unlikely alliance of microscopists and theorists may hold the key to public acceptance, or otherwise, of nanotechnology.

DOI: 10.22443/rms.inf.1.23

The back catalogue of the Royal Microscopical Society infocus magazine is a treasure trove of the very best examples of scientific imagery. When I first started flicking through them it was like looking through a window into a new world; a breathtaking, awe inspiring mixture of strange, beautiful and captivating images that microscopy can provide. As a computational physicist by trade, being asked to write for infocus is quite an honour, an exciting invitation with an ‘access all areas’ tourist visa into the secret world of the microscopists. It feels as if I’ve somehow sneaked myself onto the guest list of a party to which I shouldn’t really be invited.

Return to listing

Author

Chris Ewels

Institute of Materials Jean Rouxel, CNRS

Chris Ewels graduated from Oxford University in 1993 after studying ‘Metallurgy and the Science of Materials,’ with a fourth year at the Max Planck Institute for Powder Metallurgy. He received a Ph.D. in 1997 from the University of Exeter UK, for computational studies of oxygen defects in silicon. He then moved to Sussex University where he worked on radiation induced defects in graphite and carbon nanosystems. At Sussex he joined the Vega Science Trust with Sir Harry Kroto, where he created an online science TV channel and developed a passion for public communication of science. In Paris he worked at ONERA and was then a Marie Curie Individual Research Fellow at the Université Paris Sud within the electron microscopy group of Professor Christian Colliex. In 2006 he took up a permanent post with the CNRS at the Institute of Materials in Nantes. His work focuses on computer modelling of point and line defects in nanoscale carbons and oxides, and he has authored over 50 journal publications including fi ve book chapters. His interest in science communication continues, having recently exhibited his nanoscience art in the US (www.ewels.info). He writes regularly for national and international newspapers and websites. In 2006 he received the European Marie Curie Excellence Award.