Eyrolles is publishing a new book about 3D printing

Posted By Arthur Cassaignau on Jul 30, 2013 | 0 comments

Last week, Eyrolles published a new book about 3D printing. The book has been written in french by Mathilde Berchon (who used to work at Sculpteo) and Berthier Luyt (founder of Le Fabshop) and prefaced by Joel de Rosnay.

Mathilde left Sculpteo to work full time on her project MakingSociety. MakingSociety is a website sharing resources for open source hardware entrepreneurs. Its goal is to help makers who want to live from their passion. She’s writing about the process of prototyping, launching a product, distributing and selling it.

To understand what the book is all about, we caught up with Mathilde Berchon to learn more about this project and herself. You can find a interview of Mathilde in french on Anne-Sophie Novel’s blog “Même pas mal”.

Sculpteo: How did you come up with the idea to write a book in french about 3D printing?

Mathilde Berchon: The project started in early 2012 and was impulsed by Eyrolles Edition and Sculpteo. There were no book available in French about 3D printing. Most information about the topic was in English and even though things were moving fast in France, accessible content was clearly missing. They ask me if I would be interested to write it. I was!

Sculpteo: Until now, the best choice to rapidly gain some knowledge about 3D printing was to read Fabricated from Hod Lipson. Do you see it an alternative for anyone wanting to learn about 3D printing in french?

M.B.: Absolutely. “L’impression 3D” is a complete overview of 3D printing, sharing both analysis about impact of 3D printing on our society and practical advice. I talk about industrial printers as well as personal ones, and explain with many pictures and case studies how most fields are being disrupted by 3D printing.

Sculpteo: Do you see this book as a one-shot project or do you want to update it every year or so?

M.B.: Good question. Things are moving very fast and it would be interesting to update the book every year. But it’s a bit too early to say.

Sculpteo: Do you think it can make a difference among french decision-makers to really understand what 3D printing is all about?

M.B.: Yes. “L’impression 3D” is intended for designers, business owners and anyone wanting to understand in depth what is going on with 3D printing. It brings data, examples and analysis to help taking decision regarding business strategy or design choices.

Sculpteo: After seeing both sides of it, what’s the biggest difference between European and American makers?

M.B.: American makers have come from hobbyist to hardware entrepreneurs. They start taking advantage of the full ecosystem (3D printing services, crowdfunding, social media) for launching real products on the market. European makers are still hobbyists, but the community is gathering fast (first Maker Faire Europe in Rome is on its way). It wouldn’t be surprised if they catch up quicker than we think.

Sculpteo: Tell us more about yourself! What’s the plan for you? What are you doing in the bay area? and why are you there?

M.B.: I’m currently living in San Francisco, one of the hearts of hardware startup innovation in the world, and share exclusive resources for makers entrepreneurs on MakingSociety.com.

Sculpteo: Anything we forgot to ask you?

M.B.: Thanks for having me on the Sculpteo blog.

You can order the book on Amazon and in every good bookstore. A special website has been launched for this occasion.