"Hacking Matter" deserves 4-5 stars for addressing a very interesting topic - ar

tificial atoms - and 3-4 stars for its presentation. The book can be divided int
o two parts. The first section, about 110 of the book's 200 pages, gives us a to
ur of actual research in solid-state physics and its implications for material s
cience. The second launches us from real developments to speculative devices and
applications. McCarthy tries to focus the book on programmable matter and only
touches on other aspects of nanotechnology. I think that's a great idea, but it
should have afforded him the opportunity for deeper explanations of research and
ideas that were only briefly described.
McCarthy is facile with language, as might be expected from a writer of fiction.
But while the reading flows easily, the first section suffers from an uneven ha
ndling of the material. For example, McCarthy delays the discussion of atomic or
bitals until the middle of the book, and even then it's a watered-down introduct
ion with the reader directed to a freshman chemistry textbook for more informati
on. Given the complexity of the topic, I felt he should have assumed a certain l
evel of reader compentency, start with a more detailed review of the atom with b
etter diagrams of orbitals and material characteristics, then build from there a
nd drop the "monkey on limbs" analogy. In contrast to some areas of hand-holding
explanation, some quotes from physicists, given without further explanation, as
sume a certain level of sophistication from readers:
"In general, high temperatures tend to equal more interactions, because there ar
e a lot more blackbody photons emitted from hot surfaces, which can then be abso
rbed and destroy atomic superpositions. But photon-photon interactions have such
a low cross section you don't have to worry about it for optical quantum states
. A photon that's in a quantum superposition is therefore going to be a lot more
stable at room temperature." (p. 71)
Perhaps it's praise to McCarthy that I wanted more of the first 100 pages -- lik
e a thorough introduction to atoms and how material properties arise, side-by-si
de diagrams of natural and artificial atoms in terms of scale, electron density
plots, more details on the research, etc. It's fascinating stuff and there are r
eferences at the end of the book.
The speculative portion of the book, although it occasionally veers from the foc
us on programmable matter, is well-written and thought-provoking. McCarthy notes
that the interviewed researchers are reluctant to speculate, and he steps into
that void and presents some possibilities. One chapter describes a hypothetical
construct for handling an array of quantum of dots: a "Wellstone Fiber" invented
and submitted for a patent by McCarthy and his partner.
Back in the late 80s, K. Eric Drexler, referenced at least twice in "Hacking Mat
ter," used his book "Engines of Creation" to speculate on possible directions fo
r nanotechnology, well ahead of actual technical developments. While some of Dre
xler's ideas may not be realistic, he did galvanize interest in the subject. I c
an't help but think McCarthy is trying to play that role for artificial atoms an
d the funding of condensed matter physics research. For those of us who don't th
ink that much about material science, this book provides a good wake-up call in
the form of an entertaining read.