This lists further sources of nontechnical information onĀ nanotechnologyĀ and related topics. (For more technical material, see theĀ Technical Bibliography.)
This nonprofit organization was founded to address the opportunities and challenges posed by nanotechnology and other powerful anticipated technologies. Materials available include theĀ UpdateĀ newsletter, theĀ BackgroundĀ orientation series, occasional papers, and conference tapes. Students and others planning careers in nanotechnology-related research can requestĀ Briefing #1: Studying Nanotechnology. The Foresight InstituteĀ sponsors conferencesĀ on both technical and policy issues raised by nanotechnology. Readers concerned about endangered species should inquire about the BioArchive Project. TheĀ institute’s addressĀ appears at the end of the Afterword.
The Foresight Institute on the WWW:Ā http://www.foresight.org/
byĀ K. Eric Drexler
This first book on nanotechnology (Doubleday 1986) introduces the subject from a more abstract and long-term perspective. Topics covered include nanotechnology’s relationship to scientific knowledge, the evolution of ideas, artificial intelligence, human life span, limits to growth, healing the environment, prevention of technological abuse, space development, and the need for new social technologiesāsuch asĀ hypertext publishingĀ and fact forumsāto help us deal with rapid technological change.
Available in Britain from Fourth Estate, and in Japan from Personal Media (under the titleĀ Machines that Create: Nanotechnology).
Atkins, P.W.Ā Molecules.Ā (Scientific American Library Series #21, 1987). An elegantly written and heavily illustrated introduction to the molecular world, showing manyĀ moleculesĀ in everyday use.
Bennett, James C.Ā Creating Competitive Space Trade: a Common Market for Space Enterprise.Santa Monica, CA:Ā Reason Foundation Policy StudyĀ No. 123 (August 1990), Proposed a framework for international technology regulation which could be extended to nanotechnology.
Brand, Stewart.Ā The Media Lab: Inventing the Future at MIT.New York: Viking, 1987. Vividly describes the Lab’s work on the personalized information technologies we’ll be using tomorrow.
Burgess, Jeremy.Ā Microcosmos.Ā New York: Cambridge University Press, 1987. A collection of beautiful images of the microscale world.
Burnham, John C.Ā How Superstition Won and Science Lost.New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers, 1987. Tells the story of scientists’ declining effort to reaching out to the public, and the resulting erosion of public understanding (which ultimately leads to flawed public policy).
Drexler, K. Eric. “Exploring Future Technologies,” inĀ Doing Science:Ā The Reality ClubĀ ed. John Brockman. New York: Prentice Hall, 1991. An essay describing theĀ exploratory engineeringĀ approach to understanding future technological possibilities.
Drexler, K. Eric. “Technologies of Danger and Wisdom,” inĀ Directions and Implications of Advanced Computing, Vol. 1Ā eds. Jonathan P. Jacky and Douglas Schuler, eds. Norwood, NJ: Ablex, 1989. This essay discusses how computer technologies could be used to strengthen social mechanisms for dealing with complex problems. The volume is based on the first major conference of the Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility.
Milbrath, Lester.Ā Envisioning a Sustainable Society. Albany NJ: State University of New York Press, 1989. A broad work which includes a brief discussion of nanotechnology’s potential effects.
Wildavsky, Aaron.Ā Searching for Safety. New Brunswick, HJ: Bowling Green State University, 1988. This book documents how using new technologies canāand doesāreduce old risks more rapidly than it creates new ones, and how either too little or too much caution can decrease safety.
Encyclopedia Britannica’s Science and the Future Yearbook 1990. This annual includes an eighteen-page introduction to nanotechnology; offprints are available from the Foresight Institute (address appears in the Afterword).
“Computer Recreations.”Ā Scientific American, Jan. 1988. A column describing molecular mechanical computers.
“The Invisible Factory.”Ā The Economist, Dec. 9, 1989. A brief, clear, and technically accurate introduction to nanotechnology.
“Where the Next Fortunes Will be Made.”Ā Fortune, Dec. 5, 1988. Includes a discussion of the business consequences of nanotechnology.
Information and publications on biostasis and future medical capabilities are available from theĀ Alcor Life Extension Foundation, 12327 Doherty Street, Riverside, CA 92503; telephone (714) 736-1703. [Current address and phone: 7895 E. Acoma Dr., Ste. 110, Scottsdale, AZ 85260; 1-800-367-2228]
Science NewsĀ is a weekly newsmagazine, accessible to the nontechnical reader. A good guide to (among other things) the latest developments on the path to nanotechnology.
