3D Printing and Humanity's First Imperfect Replicator

A personal account is given of the RepRap Project by the person who instigated it. RepRap is an open source project carried out by volunteers worldwide to design and to build a self-replicating 3D printer. The influence of early rapid-prototyping developments is outlined, as are biomimetic ideas from evolutionary theory. Finally the large (though uncertain) number of RepRaps in the world is mentioned, as is the impact that the project has had on its instigator.