computer science

Open-Source Lab (book)

Open-Source Lab (book) is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Open-Source Lab (book) rather than just read about it. In short: The Open-Source Lab: How to Build Your Own Hardware and Reduce Research Costs by Joshua M. Pearce was published in 2014 by Elsevier.

Key takeaways

Open-Source Lab (book) belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Open-Source Lab (book) to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Open-Source Lab (book) from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Open-Source Lab: How to Build Your Own Hardware and Reduce Research Costs by Joshua M. Pearce was published in 2014 by Elsevier. The academic book is a guide, which details the development of free and open-source hardware primarily for scientists and university faculty. 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. The Open-Source Lab book has been covered extensively by the media. It was one of the top books chosen by Shareable for "New Books About Sharing, Cities and Happiness". The book itself is not open source and is sold under copyright by Elsevier.

Claims The author 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. These claims have been generally supported by others using the techniques, such as those in the DIYbio community. While discussing the book in an interview with 3-D Printing Industry, Pearce has claimed to save thousands of dollars in his own lab, 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. A study on the use of 3D printing in this context cited this book as also being good for the environment.

Chapters Introduction to Open-Source Hardware for Science The Benefits of Sharing—Nice Guys and Girls do Finish First Open Licensing—Advanced Sharing Open-Source Microcontrollers for Science: How to Use, Design Automated Equipment With and Troubleshoot RepRap for Science—How to Use, Design, and Troubleshoot the Self-Replicating 3-D Printer Digital Designs and Scientific Hardware The Future of Open-Source Hardware and Science

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

See also List of open-source hardware projects Open-notebook science, an open science technique

References

External links Official website Open-source Lab at Appropedia

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Open-Source Lab (book)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Open-Source Lab (book) claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Open-Source Lab (book) before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Open-Source Lab (book) ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Open-Source Lab (book)

In research: Open-Source Lab (book) appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Open-Source Lab (book) in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Open-Source Lab (book) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2014 non-fiction books, Computer science books, Electronics books, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Open-Source Lab (book) outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Open-Source Lab (book) in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Open-Source Lab (book) means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Open-Source Lab (book) out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Open-Source Lab (book) in simple terms?

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

Why does Open-Source Lab (book) matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Open-Source Lab (book)?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Open-Source Lab (book).