Advances in nanoscience and nanotechnology promise to have major impacts on human health, wealth, and peace in the coming decades. Among the expected breakthroughs are orders of magnitude increases in computer efficiency, human organ restoration using engineered tissue, `designer' materials created from directed assembly of atoms and molecules, and the emergence of entirely new phenomena in chemistry and physics. This book includes a collection of essays by leading scientists, engineers, and social scientists reviewing the possible uses of these impending technical developments in various industrial, medical, and national security applications, and the corresponding ethical, legal, social, economic, and educational issues that they raise. The report outlines potential areas for research into societal implications of nanotechnology, as well as some preliminary suggestions for how potential positive impacts of nanotechnology can be maximized, while minimizing any possible negative impacts, real or imagined. This book also provides the beginning of a blueprint for how one should address second-order consequences of the new technology, either positive implications or potential risks. This material was prepared under the auspices of the US National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI). The issues raised in the book are global in scope, going far beyond the immediate impact of the NNI. They ask the general questions of how history and the human condition are affected by technological progress, and how individuals and institutions can seek to guide that progress in ways most beneficial to mankind in the long run.
Author(s): Edited by Mihail C. Roco and William Sims Bainbridge
Edition: 1
Year: 2006
Language: English
Pages: 515
Table of Contents......Page 6
Introduction......Page 10
Socio-Economic Impact of Nanoscale Science: Initial Results and Nanobank......Page 15
Managing the Nanotechnology Revolution: Consider the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Criteria......Page 32
The Emerging NanoEconomy: Key Drivers, Challenges, and Opportunities......Page 40
Transcending Moore's Law with Molecular Electronics and Nanotechnology......Page 51
Semiconductor Scaling as a Model for Nanotechnology Commercialization......Page 64
Nanotechnology and Zettabits: Implications of Information Anytime and Everywhere......Page 70
Sustaining the Impact of Nanotechnology on Productivity, Sustainability, and Equity......Page 72
Non-Nano Effects of Nanotechnology on the Economy......Page 76
Navigating Nanotechnology Through Society......Page 83
Nanotechnology, Surveillance, and Society: Methodological Issues and Innovations for Social Research......Page 95
Nanotechnology and Social Trends......Page 105
Five Nanotech Social Scenarios......Page 117
Technological Revolutions and the Limits of Ethics in an Age of Commercialization......Page 121
Nanorevolution: Implications for the Artist......Page 129
Vision, Innovation, and Policy......Page 135
Nanotechnology's Implications for the Quality of Life......Page 139
Management of Innovation for Convergent Technologies......Page 146
The "Integration/Penetration Model:" Social Impacts of Nanobiotechnology Issues......Page 149
The Use of Analogies for Interdisciplinary Research in the Convergence of Nano-, Bio-, and Information Technology......Page 160
Converging Technologies: Innovation, Legal Risks, and Society......Page 166
Short-term Implications of Convergence for Scientific and Engineering Disciplines......Page 169
Converging Technologies and Their Societal Implications......Page 172
Ethical Issues in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology: Reflections and Suggestions......Page 177
Ethics and Nano: A Survey......Page 180
Law in a New Frontier......Page 190
An Exploration of Patent Matters Associated with Nanotechnology......Page 195
The Ethics of Ethics......Page 203
Negotiations over Quality of Life in the Nanotechnology Initiative......Page 206
Problems of Governance of Nanotechnology......Page 214
Societal Implications of Emerging Science and Technologies: A Research Agenda for Science and Technology Studies (STS)......Page 218
Institutional Impacts of Government Science Initiatives......Page 230
Nanotechnology for National Security......Page 239
In Defense of Nanotechnology In Defense......Page 243
Societal Implications of Nanoscience: An Agenda for Public Interaction Research......Page 248
Communicating Nanotechnological Risks......Page 252
A Proposal to Advance Understanding of Nanotechnology's Social Impacts......Page 258
Nanotechnology in the Media: A Preliminary Analysis......Page 265
Public Engagement with Nanoscale Science and Engineering......Page 272
Nanotechnology: Moving Beyond Risk......Page 281
Communication Streams and Nanotechnology: The (Re)Interpretation of a New Technology......Page 287
Historical Comparisons for Anticipating Public Reactions to Nanotechnology......Page 290
Human Resource Implications of Nanotechnology on National Security and Space Exploration......Page 303
Training Students to be Interactional Experts......Page 307
Educating Undergraduate Nanoengineers......Page 311
Interactive, Entertaining, Virtual Learning Environments......Page 323
Incorporating Nanotechnology into K-12 Education......Page 328
Education Opportunities Related to the Societal Implications of Nanotechnology......Page 333
Human Resources for Nanotechnology......Page 337
B......Page 342
D......Page 343
G......Page 344
L......Page 345
N......Page 346
Q......Page 347
S......Page 348
T......Page 349
V......Page 350
B......Page 351
C......Page 352
E......Page 353
G......Page 354
I......Page 355
M......Page 356
N......Page 357
P......Page 358
S......Page 359
T......Page 360
Y......Page 361
