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Step-by-step guide to using open-source instructions and common materials to build your own laboratory hardware For FREE access to select content, please visit http://ow.ly/qJLyV.

Table of Contents

Preface1. Introduction to Open-Source Hardware for Science2. The Benefits of Sharing – Nice Guys and Girls Do Finish First3. Open Licensing – Advanced Sharing4. Open-Source Microcontrollers for Science: How to Use, Design Automated Equipment with, and Troubleshoot5. RepRap for Science: How to Use, Design, and Troubleshoot the Self-Replicating 3-D Printer6. Digital Designs and Scientific Hardware 6.1 OpenSCAD, RepRap, and Arduino Microcontrollers 6.2 Physics: Open-Source Optics 6.3 Engineering: Open-Source Laser Welder, Radiation Detection, and Oscilloscopes 6.4 Environmental Science: Open-Source Colorimeter and pH Meter 6.5 Biology: OpenPCR, Open-Source Centrifuges and More 6.6 Chemistry: Open-Source Spectrometers and Other Chemical Research Tools7. The Future of Open-Source Hardware and Science

About the Author

Dr. Joshua M. Pearce received his Ph.D. in Materials Engineering from the Pennsylvania State University and holds Chemistry and Physics degrees from the same institution. He then developed the first Sustainability program in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education as an assistant professor of Physics at Clarion University of Pennsylvania and helped develop the Applied Sustainability graduate program while at Queen's University, Canada. He currently is an Associate Professor cross-appointed in the Department of Materials Science & Engineering and in the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering at the Michigan Technological University where he runs the Open Sustainability Technology Research Group. His research concentrates on the use of open source appropriate technology to find collaborative solutions to problems in sustainability and poverty reduction. His highly-interdisciplinary research spans areas of electronic device physics and materials engineering of solar photovoltaic cells, but also includes applied sustainability. He has more than 100 peer-reviewed publications based on his research. Most recently his group has become well-known for cutting the costs of scientific research by designing open-source hardware using 3-D printers and microcontrollers. Dr. Pearce is an energetic advocate for sustainability and open-source development in the sciences and due to his interdisciplinary background, he is uniquely positioned to provide a broad yet detailed view of this exploding area of exploration. His work in this area has been published or featured in Popular Mechanics, ArsTechnica, Nature, Chemical and Engineering News, PLOS One, and in Science: on "Building Research Equipment with Free, Open-Source Hardware". Dr. Pearce is an administrator on Appropedia, the largest online wiki dedicated to sustainability and poverty reduction (http://www.appropedia.org/User:J.M.Pearce) and a frequent contributor to Thingiverse, a repository of digital designs of real objects (http://www.thingiverse.com/jpearce).

Reviews

"Pearce intends his book to be a sort of guide to creating your own open-source lab gear. The topics he covers include software rights, best practices and etiquette for using open-source hardware, open-source microcontrollers, open-source centrifuges and spectrometers, colorimeters, and even open-source laser welding. There are also some helpful hints for those who are 3D-printing their equipment for the first time."--Machine Design blog, December 4, 2013 "Joshua Pearce is not one for understatement. 'This is the beginning of a true revolution in the sciences,' says the author of 'Open-Source Lab.' For cash-strapped researchers, he could be right.'Open-Source Lab' is written for a wide audience, from novices to those who are "at one with the force of open source," who can skip the introductory material and get right to work printing their own equipment."--Nanowerk.com, November 18, 2013 "3dhacker is truly impressed by the amount of work Dr. Pearce has put into Open-Source Lab. It's immediately clear how a teacher or researcher in any institution around the world can reduce their laboratory equipment costs by 60-90%. Additionally Dr. Pearce illustrates the benefits of open source hardware and how it's a must if the world wants to move at the fastest pace for scientific development!"--3D Hacker! online, November 18, 2013 "We are developing a whole range of different kinds of inexpensive high-end 3D printable scientific tools. I documented both our work and dozens of examples from the community in a book: Open-source Lab, which should be published next month. The idea of open-sourcing scientific equipment is catching on and it is really exciting to see what is going on with groups all over the world like at Tekla Labs."--3DPrintingIndustry.com, October 18, 2013