Background

This project began as a collaboration between Chemists and an Anthropologist at the Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology (CBEN) at Rice University. The chemists were seeking ways to make nanotechnology more accessible, easier to transfer and cheaper for use in unconventional locales, and the anthropologist was thinking about how Free/Open Source software has provided a template for different kinds of projects outside of software. Together we created a paper that describes one particular process for making nanotechnology "vernacular"-- making it easily accessible and re-usable in the widest possible number of settings. There are a number of different starting points to learn more about this project and others it relates to: Our Paper Resources on Nanotechnology for the Environment Background on Free/Open Source Software Scholarly works on Open Source, Engineering and/or Nanotech Scholarly Works on upstream Public Engagenment with Science Vernacular Science and Appropriate Technology Projects Similar to OS Nano Water, Water Quality, Arsenic Poisoning Basic Chemistry and Safety