Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
Thank you for the correction, but I'm still extremely doubtful that this is a complete unabridged version of the OED. My university library has the OED - it's 20 volumes occupying something like 3m of shelf space. There's no way it could be printed in two volumes, no matter how small the print!
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I do believe that the 20-volume OED could fit in two volumes--even in
one volume.
Ever since I can remember, people have been trying to see how small that they could make a Bible (why,
). It appears that the most recent record-holder is an organization called the Technion Institute. Using "nano technology," they have produced a complete Bible--Old and New Testaments--that is only 0.5 mm square!
With nano technology, text is etched in nano size, on very small silicon chips. If I understand it correctly, it is the same technology that allows very small processors to be created for computers and cell phones.
Now, as large as a Bible is, it surely pales in comparison in size to any version or edition of the OED. However, the information above might give us some idea of how small of an OED conceivably could be printed.
Forget trying to read nano-sized font with a magnifying glass. Forget about using even a high-powered optical microscope. Etchings that we're talking about here can be read only with an
electron microscope.