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3-D Printing
"Describes the invention and development of 3-D Printing. Explores trials and tribulations along with the technological advances seen today. Includes glossary, websites, and bibliography for further reading"--
48 pages, Library Binding
Published January 1, 2016
3 people want to read
About the author
Hal Marcovitz
308 books11 followersHal Marcovitz has been making his living as a writer for more than a quarter-century. He has worked as a reporter and columnist for several daily newspapers, and can now be found reporting for The Morning Call of Allentown, PA, where he covers government and politics in the Bucks County Courthouse in suburban Philadelphia.
Hal is also the author of more than 50 nonfiction books for young readers. He has written biographies of Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa, civil rights leader Al Sharpton, farm labor leader Cesar Chavez, and film director Ron Howard. He has also written about the lives of several presidents, including Bill Clinton, John Adams, James Monroe, Theodore Roosevelt, and John F. Kennedy.
Hal lives in Chalfont, Pennsylvania, with his wife, Gail, and daughters Ashley and Michelle.
Hal is also the author of more than 50 nonfiction books for young readers. He has written biographies of Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa, civil rights leader Al Sharpton, farm labor leader Cesar Chavez, and film director Ron Howard. He has also written about the lives of several presidents, including Bill Clinton, John Adams, James Monroe, Theodore Roosevelt, and John F. Kennedy.
Hal lives in Chalfont, Pennsylvania, with his wife, Gail, and daughters Ashley and Michelle.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 6, 2023
3-D Printing, by Hal Marcovitz
In general, this book is somewhat informative about 3-D printing, and the book's basic contents are enlivened by sidebars which provide short blurbs of information of interest to the reader. While this book is by no means a detailed discussion of 3-D printing, it is certainly suitable as an introductory text, especially for younger readers. The biggest criticism I would have about this particular book is that it seems to discourage the reader from being directly involved in 3-D printing, by its fearmongering concerning the making of unregistered guns with 3-D printing as well as the author's comments that a lot of things made by ordinary people with 3-D printing appear to be junk. The book is also a bit short on details about how it is that ordinary people can create things with 3-D printing, though its discussion about the scientific and medical and commercial uses of 3-D printing is certainly worthwhile and enjoyable. While this book has some good information and occasional feel-good stories, overall the author's approach is not one that I find all that enjoyable, personally speaking. One sidebar where the author makes the gimmicky praise of millennials as being creative people in 3-D printing was especially cringeworthy, and emblematic of the author's approach as a whole.
This book is a bit less than 50 pages long and is divided into four chapters. The first chapter discusses 3-D printing as a new way to make things, and discusses the development and maturation of 3-D printing as a technique starting in the 1980's but coming into its own within the past decade or so. After that there is a discussion on the emergence of the 3-D culture, which mainly discusses the commercial use of 3-D printing to make products out of materials that can be melted or are in liquid or powder form. The third chapter then discusses the maker community, which focuses on the ordinary people who use smaller and less expensive 3-D printers to make small items. Here the author, while praising the millennial generation, has some critical comments to make about the quality of the sorts of goods that are made by ordinary people, in contrast to his praise of more professional and commercial interests. The fourth chapter then looks at the future of 3-D printing, which again focuses on commercial interests as well as medical ones, demonstrating what the author considers to be most worthwhile. The book then closes with a glossary, writings that give more information, an index, and information about the author.
In general, this book is somewhat informative about 3-D printing, and the book's basic contents are enlivened by sidebars which provide short blurbs of information of interest to the reader. While this book is by no means a detailed discussion of 3-D printing, it is certainly suitable as an introductory text, especially for younger readers. The biggest criticism I would have about this particular book is that it seems to discourage the reader from being directly involved in 3-D printing, by its fearmongering concerning the making of unregistered guns with 3-D printing as well as the author's comments that a lot of things made by ordinary people with 3-D printing appear to be junk. The book is also a bit short on details about how it is that ordinary people can create things with 3-D printing, though its discussion about the scientific and medical and commercial uses of 3-D printing is certainly worthwhile and enjoyable. While this book has some good information and occasional feel-good stories, overall the author's approach is not one that I find all that enjoyable, personally speaking. One sidebar where the author makes the gimmicky praise of millennials as being creative people in 3-D printing was especially cringeworthy, and emblematic of the author's approach as a whole.
This book is a bit less than 50 pages long and is divided into four chapters. The first chapter discusses 3-D printing as a new way to make things, and discusses the development and maturation of 3-D printing as a technique starting in the 1980's but coming into its own within the past decade or so. After that there is a discussion on the emergence of the 3-D culture, which mainly discusses the commercial use of 3-D printing to make products out of materials that can be melted or are in liquid or powder form. The third chapter then discusses the maker community, which focuses on the ordinary people who use smaller and less expensive 3-D printers to make small items. Here the author, while praising the millennial generation, has some critical comments to make about the quality of the sorts of goods that are made by ordinary people, in contrast to his praise of more professional and commercial interests. The fourth chapter then looks at the future of 3-D printing, which again focuses on commercial interests as well as medical ones, demonstrating what the author considers to be most worthwhile. The book then closes with a glossary, writings that give more information, an index, and information about the author.
June 18, 2016
**reviewed from uncorrected egalley. Please note that quoted material might not appear as such in the final printed book.
From the publisher's description: Includes glossary, websites, and bibliography for further reading. Grade Level Range 3-6, Accelerated Reader Level Range 5.0-5.9
Children's nonfiction/STEM (grades 4-6). There are some imprecisely presented "truths" in here, but overall this is not a bad introduction to 3D printing (probably about as good as most of the other books out there, and sometimes a little bit better). I did think the chapter on 3D printing in space was cool (and new to me), and there were interesting details included ("Skyfall" and other movie productions, fashion applications) that should appeal to a variety of kids. The glossary is pretty short (only 1 page long and containing 10 words/definitions that seem to have been randomly chosen), and includes words like "nozzle" but not "molten" or "die cutter" (the latter of which, in my opinion, could really use some sort of illustrative diagram for explanation, especially since it reappears in later chapters). As a primer, would not serve well for a 3rd grade audience without lots and LOTS of help of a knowledgeable teacher; 3rd and 4th grade teachers would probably just present some of the material (or most likely, read it themselves and create their own, more interactive presentations with which to teach their classes), but 5th and 6th grade students (if they are fairly well-versed in STEM principles) should be able to pick up the subject relatively easily.
p. 9: "With additive printing, no waste is made. Every ounce of material, whether it is plastic, metal, or chocolate that comes out of the nozzle, is used to make the object." <--while I'd like to point out that there is generally LESS waste in 3D printing than in assembly lines/die cut machines, this isn't entirely true--many of the FDM stereolithographic 3D printers generally need to print out a "raft" of extra material that the final object can be printed on top of, and frequently also tiny support structures (to hold up the weight of material that is being printed on top of hollow spaces). This could easily change in a year or two, but that is still some extra material leftover that needs to be pulled off and discarded/recycled.
p.12 [inset]: "All 3-D, or 3-dimensional, objects also share features. They are all solid." <--this isn't precisely true either--3D objects can be hollow and theoretically they can also take liquid or gaseous forms. Whichever definition of "solid" was meant in this sentence, it seems to be more misleading than meaningful and probably could be left out.
p. 42: "Most products are still made on assembly lines. This uses a subtractive process and it adds to the waste that is piled up on the planet. Only when industries fully grasp additive manufacturing will all that waste stop." <--Um, maybe, but what about the waste that goes into making corn-plastic filament? I'm sure there are some corn parts that get thrown away in that process (not to mention the questionable sustainability of mass-produced corn in general). 3D manufacturing isn't going to solve the world's waste problems; as the inset on page 32 points out, we need to be more aware of all the junk we make and consume and the sustainability of what we do in general.
From the publisher's description: Includes glossary, websites, and bibliography for further reading. Grade Level Range 3-6, Accelerated Reader Level Range 5.0-5.9
Children's nonfiction/STEM (grades 4-6). There are some imprecisely presented "truths" in here, but overall this is not a bad introduction to 3D printing (probably about as good as most of the other books out there, and sometimes a little bit better). I did think the chapter on 3D printing in space was cool (and new to me), and there were interesting details included ("Skyfall" and other movie productions, fashion applications) that should appeal to a variety of kids. The glossary is pretty short (only 1 page long and containing 10 words/definitions that seem to have been randomly chosen), and includes words like "nozzle" but not "molten" or "die cutter" (the latter of which, in my opinion, could really use some sort of illustrative diagram for explanation, especially since it reappears in later chapters). As a primer, would not serve well for a 3rd grade audience without lots and LOTS of help of a knowledgeable teacher; 3rd and 4th grade teachers would probably just present some of the material (or most likely, read it themselves and create their own, more interactive presentations with which to teach their classes), but 5th and 6th grade students (if they are fairly well-versed in STEM principles) should be able to pick up the subject relatively easily.
p. 9: "With additive printing, no waste is made. Every ounce of material, whether it is plastic, metal, or chocolate that comes out of the nozzle, is used to make the object." <--while I'd like to point out that there is generally LESS waste in 3D printing than in assembly lines/die cut machines, this isn't entirely true--many of the FDM stereolithographic 3D printers generally need to print out a "raft" of extra material that the final object can be printed on top of, and frequently also tiny support structures (to hold up the weight of material that is being printed on top of hollow spaces). This could easily change in a year or two, but that is still some extra material leftover that needs to be pulled off and discarded/recycled.
p.12 [inset]: "All 3-D, or 3-dimensional, objects also share features. They are all solid." <--this isn't precisely true either--3D objects can be hollow and theoretically they can also take liquid or gaseous forms. Whichever definition of "solid" was meant in this sentence, it seems to be more misleading than meaningful and probably could be left out.
p. 42: "Most products are still made on assembly lines. This uses a subtractive process and it adds to the waste that is piled up on the planet. Only when industries fully grasp additive manufacturing will all that waste stop." <--Um, maybe, but what about the waste that goes into making corn-plastic filament? I'm sure there are some corn parts that get thrown away in that process (not to mention the questionable sustainability of mass-produced corn in general). 3D manufacturing isn't going to solve the world's waste problems; as the inset on page 32 points out, we need to be more aware of all the junk we make and consume and the sustainability of what we do in general.
October 25, 2016
This title is one of the “Tech Bytes” series and features 3-D printing. Straightforward text explains the process of 3-D printing and how this new technology has revolutionized manufacturing. In addition to describing beneficial applications of 3-D printing in science, medicine and everyday life, the narrative also addresses some negatives associated with 3-D printing. Because of its accessibility to the general population, some inventors’ concepts may be contrary to the common good or acceptable use of technology. The spreads are filled with color photographs and numerous fact boxes and factoids that broaden the text for intermediate readers. Back matter includes a glossary, websites, bibliography and index. The title is a worthwhile resource for research in cutting-edge technology.
June 21, 2016
I thought this was a very interesting book. It would be a very good introduction to 3-D printing because of all the background information, including the difference between 3-D printing and traditional manufacturing. I was a little worried about two things, one is that this is a topic where things are changing FAST. I wonder how long until this book is completely dated. The second was the book talked about how it was illegal to print out guns and even explained that most people probably wouldn't be able to do it because it's so complicated, but I'm not sure if either of those things would be deterrents to motivated people.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews