AN ARTIST is using a revolutionary science which he believes will change the world.

Tom Grimsey has teamed up with award-winning science writer Peter Forbes to pen NanoScience: Giants of the Infinitesimal.

The Brighton artist explores the possibilities of nanotechnology using solar energy and finding cost-effective methods to desalinate sea water which, in turn, has produced stunning images.

The images – from a butterfly’s wings to the cells in beef – would be invisible to the naked eye but the sculptor has blown them up large enough for people to see the beauty of the nano world.

Mr Grimsey said: “We’ll see major changes to the way we live our lives in the next five to 10 years.

“Things are getting smaller. Moore’s law suggests technology halves in size every 18 months. “The iPhones in our pockets would have been the size of a room not long ago. The technology in fuel and the work in light harvesting is going to revolutionise the carbon economy.”

The new book came about when the artist read Mr Forbes’ 2005 book The Gecko’s Foot, which also looked at nanoscience.

Mr Grimsey added: “It was such a lovely book, really engaging, but it was a paperback and all the pictures were black and white.

“So I approached him and said it would be so much better and would attract a wider audience if we could make it a visual book – and that’s what we did.

“We just wanted to share our enthusiasm in the subject. This is going to be a revolution and it’s going to be as important as the industrial revolution.”

Mr Forbes said: “Tom’s an artist who became fascinated by science and wanted to explore the area of nanoscience as much as he can.

“I’m a writer and wanted to explore this world too, so it just felt like the right time to do it – about 10 years after my last book on the subject.

“The coverage we’ve received has been really surprising.

“When you do a book you want the public to be interested and you want the experts to quietly approve of what you’ve written – and the experts are happy and the media coverage from the pictures suggest people are interested.”