Nanoconvergence: The Unity of Nanoscience, Biotechnology, Information Technology, and Cognitive Science

Chapter 1. Convergence at the Nanoscale

Nanoscience and nanotechnology are not merely “the next big things,” offering investors the chance to get in on the ground floor of new industries. More importantly, they promote the unification of most branches of science and technology, based on the unity of nature at the nanoscale. Already, information technology incorporates hardware with nanoscale components, and biotechnology is merging with nanotechnology in many areas. Indeed, unless these technologies converge, further progress in most fields will be impossible. More controversially—but also more significantly—the convergence is prepared to encompass cognitive science. This vast unification is often called NBIC, from the initials of its four main ...