List Price: $16.95
Save: $3.57 (21%)

FREE Shipping on orders over $25—or get FREE Two-Day Shipping with Amazon Prime

Only 11 left in stock (more on the way).

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser

Want it tomorrow, Sept. 6? Order within and choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details

Ship to:

Select a shipping address:

Buy Used

$6.60

FREE Shipping on orders over $25.

Used: Acceptable | Details

Sold by Get It Now Shop

Fulfilled by Amazon

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser

Added to

Unable to add item to List. Please try again.

Other Sellers on Amazon

Add to Cart

$10.91
+ $3.99 shipping

Sold by: SuperBookDeals---

Add to Cart

$11.56
+ $3.99 shipping

Sold by: booksXpress

Add to Cart

$15.77
+ Free Shipping

Sold by: Book Depository US

Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon

Flip to back Flip to front

Listen Playing... Paused You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more

See all 3 images

Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology (Anchor Library of Science) Paperback – September 16, 1987

by Eric Drexler (Author)

65 customer reviews

See all 11 formats and editions Hide other formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Hardcover

"Please retry"

—

$79.07

$5.00

Paperback

"Please retry"

$13.38

$10.91

$0.15

Save an extra $0.82 when you choose FREE No-Rush Shipping at checkout.

This brilliant work heralds the new age of nanotechnology, which will give us thorough and inexpensive control of the structure of matter. Drexler examines the enormous implications of these developments for medicine, the economy, and the environment, and makes astounding yet well-founded projections for the future.

Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology (Anchor Library of Science)

$13.38
FREE Shipping on orders over $25—or get FREE Two-Day Shipping with Amazon Prime Only 11 left in stock (more on the way). Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Frequently bought together

Total price: $45.29

Some of these items ship sooner than the others. Show details

Buy the selected items together

This item:Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology (Anchor Library of Science) by Eric Drexler Paperback $13.38
Only 11 left in stock (more on the way).
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details
Radical Abundance: How a Revolution in Nanotechnology Will Change Civilization by K. Eric Drexler Hardcover $15.34
Only 8 left in stock (more on the way).
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details
The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology by Ray Kurzweil Paperback $16.57
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details

Customers who bought this item also bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

K. Eric Drexler

47

Hardcover
$15.34
K. Eric Drexler

14

Paperback
$24.40
Ray Kurzweil

440

Paperback
$16.57
Paul D. Beer

2

Paperback
$25.00
Earl Boysen

37

Paperback
$14.97
Eric Drexler

6

Paperback
32 offers from $2.50

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Nanotechnology, or molecular technology, involves the manipulation of individual atoms and molecules, something the human body already does.In Engines of Creation , Drexler attempts to predict, justify, quantify, and caution us about this important new field in engineering. His book could have been the first and foremost discussion of this fascinating subject. But Drexler strays from the topic with annoying regularity. He devotes too little space to the possibilities of nanotechnology and too much to esoteric and opinionated discussions of philosophy, politics, information science, defense, human relations, etc. Nanotechnology will indeed become a reality, and the public needs to be informed. It is therefore unfortunate that Engines of Creation was not written more clearly or directly. Kurt O. Baumgartner, International Minerals & Chemical Corp., Terre Haute, Ind.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Publisher

See all Editorial Reviews

Product details

Series: Anchor Library of Science
Paperback: 312 pages
Publisher: Anchor; Reprint edition (October 16, 1987)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0385199732
ISBN-13: 978-0385199735
Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.7 x 8.1 inches
Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 65 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #182,513 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #28 in Books > Science & Math > Physics > Nanostructures
- #258 in Books > Engineering & Transportation > Engineering > Reference > History
- #359 in Books > Science & Math > Technology > History of Technology

Would you like to tell us about a lower price?
If you are a seller for this product, would you like to suggest updates through seller support?

NO_CONTENT_IN_FEATURE

Customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars

5 star		63%
4 star		12%
3 star		11%
2 star		6%
1 star		8%

Write a customer review

See all verified purchase reviews

Top customer reviews

The original prophet of the nano-world to come...

ByW. Walkeron October 25, 2015

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

I read this when it was first published back in '86 and it was such an astounding book I bought at least another half dozen to give to people I thought would appreciate the message being delivered.

It's also available online as a download for $1.00 from the author. The online edition also has some updates in it.

0Comment 3 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

good book!

ByJ. McLaughlinon April 15, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

pages are brown with age and the read is slow. It's interesting and informative and gives me a lot to consider and contemplate. I can't read more than a page or even a paragraph without having to stop and consider the impacts on life and my world. good book!

0Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Legendary. Maybe impossible.

ByMarshall Vaughanon June 29, 2010

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I read several books on nanotechnology that were both more recent and more technically realistic, but this book wowed me with both breadth and depth of vision. Few tomes compare in scope - Godel, Escher, and Bach perhaps? Ending Aging? There presently isn't anything like the clarion call to nanoscale research that this book represents, and it is not a definitive historical artifact for nothing.

This is about the best overview of the conceptual space of nanotechnology you can get right now - even after 24+ years. It's brilliant, it's conscise, it's visionary. It *is* a little much. Accept that and enjoy, and it may become your favorite popular science book.

I think much of what Drexler proposes is impossible - as impossible as full human consciousness emulation and interstellar travel anyway. It seems to annoy or overwhelm some readers that Drexler goes so far. It bothered me every now and then. Given a century or three, who knows. It's dubious science, as it reaches beyond tested theories, but it is *great* hard science fiction. Plenty of real science, and I found nothing truly erroneous.

If you are looking for something grittier, Drexler's newer books (and work) build on this. For second opinions I recommend Soft Machines and Nanomedicine: basic capabilities - they are more scholarship oriented. Read Engines first: it's hard to put down and it covers so much.

If you are interested in nanotechnology, read this book.
That is all.

0Comment 4 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Engineer of Innovation

ByRobert MorrisHALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWERVINE VOICEon December 29, 1999

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

If you were to ask the world's greatest authorities on modern technology to select the five most influential books written thus far on that subject, Engines of Creation would probably be on most (if not all) lists. In it, Drexler analyzes "the coming era of nanotechnology." Obviously, that era has (since 1986) arrived. Nonetheless, Drexler's observations remain both valid and instructive. The book is organized as Part One: The Foundations of Foresight, Part Two: Profiles of the Possible, and Part Three: Dangers and Hopes. In certain respects, Engines of Creation is even more valuable today than it was when first published. It should be required reading for undergraduate and graduate students (especially those at work on a degree in engineering, the natural sciences, mathematics, or business) as well as for executives in organizations which hope to survive the "age of nanotechnology." Think of your organization as a vehicle. Viewed as such, it obviously needs an engine, fuel, a transmission, a brake, an accelerator, etc. Speed is only one component of the formula for success. Durability is another. For your organization to reach its destination, it must also have a map. Engines of Creation is about technology, of course, and it is also about innovation in an age when speed is often the difference between success and failure. But Drexler also provides the equivalent of a map to guide his reader. Misdirected speed can demolish an entire organization as well as a single vehicle....and those within it. Years from now, Engines of Creation will still be read and admired. Why? Because it will still be relevant.

0Comment 48 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Watershed book on the transhumanist movement

ByHiram Chanceon November 20, 2007

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Engines of Creation describes the foundations of and the issues surrounding humankind's increasing potential for building molecular machines. (Indeed as we stand here on the verge of 2008, notable accomplishments in nanotechnology continue to be made.) Drexler's "starter kit" comprises what he calls "universal assemblers," which are nanomachines designed for a simple task, such as replacing defective genetic links with healthful ones or bonding one cellular structure to another.

...I'm impressed with what the author and his peers have deeply pondered on preventing nanotechnological disasters, either from accident or from conscious intention of some malefactor. When one realizes a technology that can terraform planets can also readily destroy them... and us, one becomes a bit careful in how the technology is handled. The entire Part 3 of Drexler's book, "Engines of Destruction," is devoted to this issue.

...

For my complete review of this book and for other book and movie
reviews, please visit my site [...]

Brian Wright
Copyright 2007

0Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Five Stars

ByMammamia05on August 12, 2015

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

so scary but necessary to know what is really going on in our world--sad to say.must read.

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?YesNo

Four Stars

ByAmazon Customeron June 28, 2016

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

None

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?YesNo

One of the best science books ever written

ByRichard Brodieon August 18, 2000

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

The founder of the field of nanotechnology wrote this masterpiece, surely one of the best science books ever written on any subject. He even has a few paragraphs on memes! As you read this book, you find yourself drawn into Drexler's excitement about the technological utopia he predicts. We will live forever, be disease-free, and have nanomachines do everything for us. That is, until the nanoviruses appear...
--Richard Brodie, author, Virus of the Mind: The New Science of the Meme

0Comment 4 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Most recent customer reviews

Don the Baptist

A biblical review by Don the Baptist of the text “Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology” by K. Eric Drexler.Read more

Published 1 year ago by Don the Baptist

Five Stars

Anticipate giving it 5 stars

Published 1 year ago by Lyman H Howe, III

Five Stars

this future is not here yet, so much to be inspired from!

Published on July 15, 2015 by Anton Sterenborg

Three Stars

A little too technical for me but I have no doubt we are going there.

Published on July 10, 2015 by Lawrence R. Greenberg

Five Stars

EXCELENT FOR CREATIVE PEOPLE

Published on June 14, 2015 by Alvaro Sanchez Gonzalez

Five Stars

Excellent resource.

Published on February 13, 2015 by john Kristoff

This book is very forward thinking and conceptually brilliant. It remains both relevant and ahead of its ...

This book is very forward thinking and conceptually brilliant. It remains both relevant and ahead of its time to this day approaching a quarter century since original publication...Read more

Published on February 10, 2015 by Vladimir Zuzukin

Four Stars

Classic, inspiring, forward-thinking book. Much of these ideas are still not realized.

Published on January 8, 2015 by Daniel Von Kohorn

Five Stars

Perhaps the most important general audience book ever written on the subject of nanotechnology.

Published on October 11, 2014 by Michael Campbell

Set up an Amazon Giveaway

Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers. Learn more about Amazon Giveaway

This item: Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology (Anchor Library of Science)

Set up a giveaway

What other items do customers buy after viewing this item?

Radical Abundance: How a Revolution in Nanotechnology Will Change Civilization Hardcover

K. Eric Drexler

47

$15.34
Nanosystems: Molecular Machinery, Manufacturing, and Computation Paperback

K. Eric Drexler

14

$24.40
The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology Paperback

Ray Kurzweil

440

$16.57
Understanding Nanotechnology (Science Made Accessible) Paperback

Scientific American

11

$16.99

Pages with related products. See and discover other items: creation science

Buy New

$13.38

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser

or

or