Nanotechnology: Science, Innovation, and Opportunity

Preface

During the past century, human life spans have almost doubled, and travel and communication happen with an ease and speed that would have been considered science fiction only a few generations ago. Remarkably, the pace of innovation is actually increasing over that of the past.

Science has now advanced to the point that those on the cutting edge of research work with individual atoms and molecules. This is the defining characteristic of the new metafield of nanotechnology, which encompasses a broad range of both academic research and industrial development. At this small scale, the familiar classical physics guideposts of magnetism and electricity are no longer dominant; the interactions of individual atoms and molecules take over. At this ...