Self Assembly

Abstract

The term ‘Self Assembly’ itself indicates its meaning. It is a gathering or collection of certain entities without any external influence. Although the term ‘self assembly’ has received a scientific acceptance over the last 3–4 decades and such assemblies are recognized in biology, chemistry or physics, some philosophers like Kanad, Democritus and Descarates several centuries back had imagined that everything in the world, from small objects around us to solar system, galaxies and universe is a result of tiny, non-divisible units (or atoms). The word ảtomos (Greek: ἄτομος) was first used by Democritus to mean uncuttable. Out of a chaotic situation, the various forms of matter get ordered following some laws of nature. Today we know that atoms can be further smashed with very high energy into still tinier particles viz. electrons, protons and neutrons. Protons and neutrons also are composed of fundamental particles like quarks. Yet, the concept that matter is composed of tiny units like atoms or molecules is still very useful for understanding most of the phenomena around us.