As we noted earlier, what is now solid science began as sci-fi. In the November 1950 issue of the US Astounding Science Fiction magazine, there’s a story called ‘Tools of the Trade’ that imagines a ‘molecular spray’. At least that’s the reference you will read if you search for it – but there’s a much earlier one: the creation story in the Book of Genesis. 3D printing involves making a solid out of a digital image. God says, ‘Let us make man in our own image,’ and proceeds to do it with a molecular mixture of dust and the breath of life. Sounds like 3D printing to me.
