The power to inspire in the amateur scientist column in Scientific American was not always about actually doing the experiment but to see how someone was able to create a cutting edge instrument with simple tools and clever thinking. It let you see potential of the common place and that was the art of the column.
I created a web site outlining the design and construction of a simple Scanning Tunneling Microscope. My experiences with the people that write me about the project most just read through the site and ask some basic questions about Scanning tunneling Microscopy and/or comment on the project. Rarely will some one write to tell me they are building it. These few are from all over the world and they are mostly students. It was exciting to hear from a kid in South Africa that had just gotten his first images with his microscope. I would encourage more amateur or semi-amateur scientists/engineers to publish open source projects on the web.
Slashdot Mirror
I created a web site outlining the design and construction of a simple Scanning Tunneling Microscope. My experiences with the people that write me about the project most just read through the site and ask some basic questions about Scanning tunneling Microscopy and/or comment on the project. Rarely will some one write to tell me they are building it. These few are from all over the world and they are mostly students. It was exciting to hear from a kid in South Africa that had just gotten his first images with his microscope. I would encourage more amateur or semi-amateur scientists/engineers to publish open source projects on the web.
John Alexander
http://www.geocities.com/spm_stm