from the preparing-for-the-future dept.
A paper on "Nanotechnology and Societal Transformation" by Michael M. Crow and Daniel Sarewitz appears on the Center for Science, Policy, and Outcomes (CSPO) website. The authors conclude:
"Should nanoscience and nanotechnology yield even a small proportion of their anticipated advances, the impacts on society will be far-reaching and profound . . . We can allow these transformations to surprise and overwhelm us, and perhaps even threaten the prospects for further progress. Or we can choose to be smart about preparing for, understanding, responding to, and even managing the coming changes, in order to enhance the benefits, and reduce the disruption and dislocation, that must accompany any revolution."
The paper was presented at the workshop on the Societal Implications of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology sponsored by the U.S. National Science and Technology Councilís Subcommittee on Nanoscale Science, Engineering and Technology (NSET) in September 2000.
