Open-Source Lab (book)

Cover for "Open-Source Lab" by Joshua M. Pearce (ISBN 9780124104624)

The Open-Source Lab: How to Build Your Own Hardware and Reduce Research Costs by Joshua M. Pearce was published in 2014 by Elsevier (ISBN 9780124104624).

The academic book is a guide, which details the development of free and open-source hardware primarily for scientists and university faculty.^[1] It provides step-by-step instructions on building laboratory hardware and scientific instruments. It also provides instructions on digital design sharing, Arduino microcontrollers, RepRap 3D Printers for scientific use and how to use open-source hardware licenses. The Guardian discusses how ideas in the Open-Source Lab could enable 3D printing to offer developing-world scientists savings on replica lab kits.^[2] The Open-Source Lab book has been covered extensively by the media.^{[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]} It was one of the top books chosen be Shareable for "New Books About Sharing, Cities and Happiness".^[14]

Claims

The author, Joshua Pearce, claims the method enables researchers in every discipline to develop research tools at low costs following his previous research in open-source hardware published in Science.^[15][16] These claims have been generally supported by others using the techniques, such as those in the in DIYbio community.^[17] While discussing the book in an interview with 3-D Printing Industry, Pearce has claimed to save thousands of dollars in his own lab,^[18] and his various studies on the economics of printing lab equipment, such as a PLOS ONE article on open-source optics have generally found over 90% savings.^[19] A study on the use of 3D printing in this context cited this book as also being good for the environment.^[20]

Uptake

Copies of Open-Source Lab were a prize in an Instructables "Build My Lab" Contest sponsored by Tekla Labs.^[21]

Interwiki Links

• Appropedia:Open-source_Lab: Hundreds of examples collected on the book's Appropedia page.

References

1. Book of the Day: How to Build Your Own Hardware and Reduce Research Costs, Michel Bauwens, P2P Foundation 12/28/2013
2. 3D printing could offer developing world savings on replica lab kit - The Guardian, Friday 21 February 2014 01.59 EST
3. MTU Prof Writes 3D Printing Guide For Scientists On A Budget - CBS 11-18-2013
4. DIY and Save: A Scientist's Guide to Making Your Own Lab Equipment - Science Daily 11-13-2013
5. Book Covers DIY Open-Source Hardware for Science Projects - Power Electronics
6. MTU Prof writes 3D printing guide to making your own low-cost lab equipment - 3Drs
7. How to build lab equipment with open-source hardware - Machine Design
8. 3D printing can reduce science lab equipment costs by 90% - Nanowerk
9. "Open-Source Lab: How to Build Your Own Hardware and Reduce Research Costs - KurzweilAI". kurzweilai.net.
10. 3D printing used to create a basement laboratory on the cheap - Geek
11. Ready Roundup: Microsoft 3D Builder, Open Source Lab, DMG Mori, and Victoria’s Secret - Rapid Ready Tech
12. Equip your lab for less - 3D print your equipment -Labonline
13. DIY Guide for 3D Printed Lab Equipment - 3D Printing Insider
14. Top 15 New Books About Sharing, Cities and Happiness – Shareable.
15. Pearce, Joshua M. 2012. “Building Research Equipment with Free, Open-Source Hardware.” Science 337 (6100): 1303–1304.
16. How Scientists Can Cut Costs by Making Their Own Lab Equipment - Lab Manager - November 19, 2013
17. Science Counterculture: On taking DIYbio to the next level - The Scientist - December 9, 2013
18. "Printers for Pearce: An Interview with 3D Printers for Peace’s Dr. Joshua Pearce". 3D Printing Industry.
19. Zhang C, Anzalone NC, Faria RP, Pearce JM (2013) Open-Source 3D-Printable Optics Equipment. PLoS ONE 8(3): e59840. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0059840
20. Kreiger, M.(2013). Environmental Life Cycle Analysis of Distributed 3-D Printing and Conventional Manufacturing of Polymer Products. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering.
21. "Build My Lab Contest". Instructables.com.