What Is Nanotechnology and Why Does It Matter: From Science to Ethics [Paperback]

Fritz Allhoff (Author), Patrick Lin (Author), Daniel Moore (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2, 2010 | ISBN-10: 1405175443 | ISBN-13: 978-1405175449 | Edition: 1

Ongoing research in nanotechnology promises both innovations and risks, potentially and profoundly changing the world. This book helps to promote a balanced understanding of this important emerging technology, offering an informed and impartial look at the technology, its science, and its social impact and ethics.

• Nanotechnology is crucial for the next generation of industries, financial markets, research labs, and our everyday lives; this book provides an informed and balanced look at nanotechnology and its social impact
• Offers a comprehensive background discussion on nanotechnology itself, including its history, its science, and its tools, creating a clear understanding of the technology needed to evaluate ethics and social issues
• Authored by a nanoscientist and philosophers, offers an accurate and accessible look at the science while providing an ideal text for ethics and philosophy courses
• Explores the most immediate and urgent areas of social impact of nanotechnology

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Undoubtedly, reading this book will stimulate a great deal of discussion, which is, perhaps, its chief merit. From this viewpoint the great breadth of coverage is a definite advantage, because it ensures that there is a great variety of food for thought in the content." (Nanotechnology Perceptions, 1 November 2010)

"This book was very carefully constructed.  Painstaking internal cross-reference refer the reader to fuller discussions of topics in other chapters.  Nearly every chapter, at the start and conclusion, includes a few sentences on scope." (Nanotechnology Law & Business, summer 2010)

Review

"The authors of What Is Nanotechnology and Why Does It Matter? answer their question with a broad and balanced examination of the nature of nanotechnology, how it is unfolding, and how these developments will affect issues of global concern: the impact of emerging technologies on the environment, medicine, military affairs, and civil society, and how we can act to achieve better outcomes."
—Eric Drexler, author of Nanosystems: Molecular Machinery, Manufacturing, and Computation

"What Is Nanotechnology and Why Does It Matter? provides a concise but clear introduction to the subject of nanotechnology as well as an excellent overview of nanotechnology's ethical and social implications. I highly recommend it."
—James Moor, Dartmouth College

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell; 1 edition (March 2, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1405175443
• ISBN-13: 978-1405175449
• Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 0.9 x 9.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,613,890 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Growing Discipline December 12, 2012

By Dr Kimberly Kohlhausen

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Nanotechnology and nano-ethics are growing at the speed of sound bytes. They are accredited academic disciplines. Read this to begin to be more aware of how nanotechnology is abundant in your life and you don't even recognize it. Read it and see who the USA's top suppliers are- awakening. Read this to make ethical decisions on the way we lead our lives in this technology driven age.

2.0 out of 5 stars Weak on science April 26, 2012

By E. L. Wolf

Format:Kindle Edition

"What is Nanotechnology... from science to ethics" is weak on science. Nanotechnology is related to the transition to wave behavior of small particles like electrons, which occurs when the particle wavelength h/p becomes bigger than features of the nanostructure, for example the oxide barrier in the field effect transistor. The tunnel effect caused leakage and Moore's Law was extended by use of high kappa oxides. It was distracting to see the authors state that the particle wavelength of big objects like planets is "amazingly large". This is nonsense. The radius of the hydrogen atom, 0.0529 nm, is miss-stated and the peculiar argument is made that an iron atom, well understood by any chemist, is essentially an unsolvable problem. With this weak intuitive grasp of their material, the authors are not suitably critical of the mixed nature of the early literature, and in fact resurrect the unfortunate myth of the "molecular assembler" which was definitively refuted by Nobelist Richard Smalley. It appears that the refutation is beyond their conceptual depth. This book should certainly not be purchased as an introduction to the subject of nanotechnology. Edward L. Wolf

3.0 out of 5 stars Lots of info on Nano November 21, 2011

By Brian Curtis

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

If you know very little about nanotechnology and worry about it's ethics, then this book is for you. It is written more like a thesis paper than a novel. A very technical read.