SCALE (Mesoscopic)
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(2) |
| ID | ◀ 2926 ▶ |
| Object type | Discipline oriented, Human sciences, Methodology or model |
(From the greek “mesos”= middle)
R. IRION writes: “Objects ranging from a few nanometers to a tenth of a micrometer show special properties that do not occur on microscopic or macroscopic scales. At this size threshold , adding more particles often makes the material not just bigger, but entirely different. Groups of hundreds to thousands of particles -dumb, inanimate matter - suddenly begin to organize themselves into patterns that make them seem capable of responding to their surroundings”(2001, p. 33)
The mesoscopic scale is shaped through a set of stabilized and repetitiveinteractions that become functional. Another angle on this phenomenon is expressed by CSANYI's concept of the “zero system ”emerging out of an autogenetic assembly of precursor components
The mesoscopically self-organizing system can itself be recognized at different scales. It is obviously active in all cases of self-organizing human systems , in history and in the present time. (J. WARFIELD, to be published)
M. ROUKES makes the following comment: “At the mesoscale, matter's properties result of a combination of classical physical laws and of quantum mechanics”(2001)
Many quanta effects are self-compensating, or somehow constrained at large scale. But the trend towards miniaturization and nanotechnology is bringing important techniques (as for example in computer hardware) closer and closer to a critical limit where quanta effects cannot anymore be ignored. This is now a very basic issue in applied technology as related to scale.