The evocative expression “3D printing” has been overtaken in everyday speech by the expression generally preferred by scientists and engineers, “additive manufacturing”. In both cases, it is a matter of manufacturing objects in successive layers, and soon every workshop and every school will have a 3D printer and engage in additive manufacturing. Self-service workshops known as fab-labs already offer users the possibility to create their own objects. However, the adventure is not over, as “4D” is coming up over the horizon with materials that evolve over time, not to mention “bio-printing”, which aims to create organs to be used to repair the living. Furthermore, the 3D printing of tomorrow, which will be performed without layers, threatens to make the term “additive manufacturing” obsolete, thereby making it possible to return to the initial concept of 3D printing. Whatever the case may be, we are faced with not only a very active and booming world, but also a complex world that calls on numerous skills in physics, engineering, chemistry of materials and mechanics with a resolutely multidisciplinary and convergent approach.

To understand the origin of the ideas in additive manufacturing/3D printing, learn about the current state of what is known and explore the developments to come, what could be better than to ask one of the inventors of the technology and one of the first French patent holders in the field, Jean-Claude André, to share his knowledge with us? This led to the idea of this 3-volume edition that I am pleased to present; a work that is both erudite and prospective, as its intention is to start at the genesis of the ideas that led to additive manufacturing to anticipate the impact and future of still “additive” technologies and, beyond this, to encourage reflection on the interactions between science and society of today and tomorrow.

If the first patents date back to 1984, an era where lasers, photo-materials and computer-aided design had already been mastered, was the idea of additive manufacturing completely disruptive as would be said today. What was creative was to put all of this knowledge together to come to something entirely new. Nevertheless, approval for the concept of additive manufacturing came rather quickly. It is on this basis that other additive methodologies, currently many of them with very specific niches, could be developed. These range from prototype and industrial parts to art, variable spatial scales – from the decameter to the nanometer –, from the inert to the living, from industrial organizations to very delocalized forms of manufacturing, etc.

On the basis of these works with varied applicative and societal spectrums, some of which are in the process of becoming stabilized, others to be invented, the principles of additive manufacturing can serve as an example, even as a “laboratory” to better understand how the interactions between research and society can (and must) develop, whether this is through new scientific concepts and the associated concepts of creativity, interdisciplinary scientific and technological operations, the popularization of public research, links with society in terms of the creation of new markets and jobs, and also forms of responsibility and ethics.

Throughout these three volumes, the author would like to invite you to reflect on the circuits between the applications that pose new scientific questions and prior research which opens the door to new applications or new products. The more we progress in the field of new niches, the more previously unasked scientific questions are considered, questions whose answers (if they exist) are supported and encouraged by public authorities and industry, which are gaining awareness of an immense industrial and/or medical market, as is the case for bio-printing. From dream to reality, scientists are often in the position to anticipate the length of the path; however, a dynamic is created. This leads to cultural changes and changes in practices, particularly concerning the importance of creativity, sharing enthusiasm for research, openness with others, the multiplying (and sometimes inhibiting) effect of public actors, on the one hand, and the economic world, on the other, as this work illustrates wonderfully.

This saga of additive manufacturing, told by one of its inventors, teaches us that creativity alone does not suffice; it is necessary to have a good dose of perseverance as well, and it is, of course, necessary to keep moving after the first failures. In addition, this shows us that sometimes the research structures and the environment are not entirely receptive to innovation, even when success comes relatively quickly.

Jean-Claude André also explains with great enthusiasm how we give shape to an idea to feed our intuition, which in turn increases creativity. On the whole, these three volumes provide a wealth of information on additive manufacturing, and additionally, they illustrate and encourage veritable reflection on the task of a researcher and research structures, as well as the role of creativity in research, and finally, they invite us to rethink and reinforce the relations between science and society.