This book addresses the interconnections and tensions between technological development, the social benefits and risks of new technology, and the changing political economy of a global world system as they apply to the emerging field of nanotechnologies. The basic premise, developed throughout the volume, is that nanotechnologies have an undertheorized and often invisible social life that begins with their constructed origins and propels them around the globe, across multiple localities, institutions and collaborations, through diverse industries, research labs, and government agencies and into the public sphere. The volume situates nano innovation and development as a modernist science and technology project in a tense and unstable relationship with a fractured, postmodern social world. The book is unique in incorporating and integrating studies of innovation systems along with a focus on the risks and consequences of a globally significant set of emerging technologies. It does this by examining the social and political conditions of their creation, production, emergence, and reception.

"Increasingly, scientists are gaining control over matter at the nanometer scale. Spearheaded by physical scientists operating at the interfaces of physics and biology (such as the author herself), advances in nanoscience and technology are transforming how we think about life and treat human health. This is due to a convergence of size. To do medicine, one must understand and be able to reach the nanoscale environment of healthy cells in tissues and organs, as well as other nano-sized building blocks that constitute a living organism, such as proteins and DNA. The ground-breaking advances being made at the frontiers of nanoscience and -technology, specifically in the areas of biology and medicine, are the subject of this short, popular-level book. Chapter 1 describes how nanotechnology and quantitative methods in biology are progressively being deployed to embrace life in all its multiscale, hierarchical intricacy and multiplicity. Chapters 2 through 4 review how bioinspired and biomimetic nanostructures and nanomachines are being created and integrated into strategies aimed at solving specific medical problems. In particular, Chapter 2 summarizes how scientists are seeking to build artificial nanostructures using both biological molecules and the organizational principles of biology. Chapter 3 gives an account of how nanotechnology is being used to develop drug-delivery strategies that specifically target cancer cells and tumors to improve the efficacy of current cancer chemotherapies. Chapter 4 reviews the science of one of the most potentially transformative scientific fields: tissue engineering. In a concluding chapter (Chapter 5), Contera reviews how nanotechnology, biology, and medicine will continue fusing with other sciences and technologies - incorporating more mathematical and computational modelling, as well as AI and robotics. Nanoscale devices will be used to learn biology; and biology will be used to inspire increasingly sophisticated "transmaterial" devices that mimic some of the characteristics of biology and incorporate new features that are not available in the biological world. The effects on human health and longevity will be profound. In a more personal epilogue, Contera describes the crossroads at which we find ourselves. Accessing our own biology evokes a mixture of possibility and dread. However, Contera maintains that we can create a positive transmaterial world for the benefit of humankind, and she describes ways in which scientists are proactively engaging with the public, politicians, industry, and entrepreneurs, as well as the media and the arts, to communicate the power and risks of new advances and to influence the ways in which new technologies will affect our future"--

Ongoing research in nanotechnology promises both innovations andrisks, potentially and profoundly changing the world. This bookhelps to promote a balanced understanding of this importantemerging technology, offering an informed and impartial look at thetechnology, its science, and its social impact and ethics. Nanotechnology is crucial for the next generation ofindustries, financial markets, research labs, and our everydaylives; this book provides an informed and balanced look atnanotechnology and its social impact Offers a comprehensive background discussion on nanotechnologyitself, including its history, its science, and its tools, creatinga clear understanding of the technology needed to evaluate ethicsand social issues Authored by a nanoscientist and philosophers, offers anaccurate and accessible look at the science while providing anideal text for ethics and philosophy courses Explores the most immediate and urgent areas of social impactof nanotechnology

Nanotechnology will eventually impact every area of our world Nanoethics seeks to examine the potential risks and rewards of applications of nanotechnology. This up-to-date anthology gives the reader an introduction to and basic foundation in nanotechnology and nanoethics, and then delves into near-, mid-, and far-term issues. Comprehensive and authoritative, it: Goes beyond the usual environmental, health, and safety (EHS) concerns to explore such topics as privacy, nanomedicine, human enhancement, global regulation, military, humanitarianism, education, artificial intelligence, space exploration, life extension, and more Features contributions from forty preeminent experts from academia and industry worldwide, reflecting diverse perspectives Includes seminal works that influence nanoethics today Encourages an informed, proactive approach to nanoethics and advocates addressing new and emerging controversies before they impede progress or impact our welfare This resource is designed to promote further investigations and a broad and balanced dialogue in nanoethics, dealing with critical issues that will affect the industry as well as society. While this will be a definitive reference for students, scientists in academia and industry, policymakers, and regulators, it's also a valuable resource for anyone who wants to understand the challenges, principles, and potential of nanotechnology.

This comprehensive handbook has become the definitive reference work in the field of nanoscience and nanotechnology, and this 4th edition incorporates a number of recent new developments. It integrates nanofabrication, nanomaterials, nanodevices, nanomechanics, nanotribology, materials science, and reliability engineering knowledge in just one volume. Furthermore, it discusses various nanostructures; micro/nanofabrication; micro/nanodevices and biomicro/nanodevices, as well as scanning probe microscopy; nanotribology and nanomechanics; molecularly thick films; industrial applications and nanodevice reliability; societal, environmental, health and safety issues; and nanotechnology education. In this new edition, written by an international team of over 140 distinguished experts and put together by an experienced editor with a comprehensive understanding of the field, almost all the chapters are either new or substantially revised and expanded, with new topics of interest added. It is an essential resource for anyone working in the rapidly evolving field of key technology, including mechanical and electrical engineers, materials scientists, physicists, and chemists.

Nanotechnology is changing the world in a very big way, but at the atomic and sub-atomic level. Although the roots of nanotechnology can be traced back to more than a century ago, the last three decades have witnessed an explosion of nano-based technologies and products. This reference work examines the history, current status, and future directions of nanotechnology through an exhaustive search of the technical and scientific literature. The more than 4000 bibliographic citations it includes are carefully organized into core subject areas, and a geographic and subject index allows readers to quickly locate documents of interest. Although a sense of the global reach and interest in nanotechnology can be gleaned from the reference sections of countless journal articles, conference papers, and books, this is the only reference work providing an in-depth global perspective that is ready-made for nanotechnology professionals and those interested in learning more about all things nanotechnology. Despite the abundance of online resources, there is still an urgent need for well-researched, well-presented, concise, and thematically organized reference works. Instead of relying on wiki pages, citation aggregators, and related websites, the author searched the databases and databanks of scholarly literature search providers such as EBSCO, ProQuest, PUBMED, STN International, and Thomson Reuters. In addition, he used select serials-related databases to account for pertinent documents from countries in which English is not the primary national language (i.e., China Online Journals, e-periodica, J-STAGE, and SciELO Brazil among others).

This book aims to address how nanotechnology risks are being addressed by scientists, particularly in the areas of human health and the environment and how these risks can be measured in financial terms for insurers and regulators. It provides a comprehensive overview of nanotechnology risk measurement and risk transfer methods, including a chapter outlining how Bayesian methods can be used. It also examines nanotechnology from a legal perspective, both current and potential future outcomes. The global market for nanotechnology products was valued at $22.9 billion in 2013 and increased to about $26 billion in 2014. This market is expected to reach about $64.2 billion by 2019, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.8% from 2014 to 2019. Despite the increasing value of nanotechnologies and their widespread use, there is a significant gap between the enthusiasm of scientists and nanotechnology entrepreneurs working in the nanotechnology space and the insurance/regulatory sector. Scientists are scarcely aware that insurers/regulators have concerns about the potential for human and environmental risk and insurers/regulators are not in a position to access the potential risk. This book aims to bridge this gap by defining the current challenges in nanotechnology across disciplines and providing a number of risk management and assessment methodologies. Featuring contributions from authors in areas such as regulation, law, ethics, management, insurance and manufacturing, this volume provides an interdisciplinary perspective that is of value to students, academics, researchers, policy makers, practitioners and society in general.

Because of their far-reaching consequences, truly transformative technologies always generate controversy. This encyclopedia covers the ethical, legal, policy, social, economic, and business issues raised by nanoscience.

A new high-level book for professionals from Atlantis Press providing an overview of nanotechnologies now and their applications in a broad variety of fields, including information and communication technologies, environmental sciences and engineering, societal life, and medicine, with provision of customized treatments. The book shows where nanotechnology is now - a fascinating time when the science is transitioning into complex systems with impact on new products. Present and future developments are addressed, as well as a larger number of new industrial and research opportunities deriving from this domain. An overview for professionals, researchers and policy-makers of this very rapidly expanding field. Brief chapters and colour figures with a contained overall length make the book attractive at an attractive price - a must for every professional’s shelf. Mihail C. Roco, National Science Foundation and National Nanotechnology Initiative, wrote the preface underlying the importance and weight of the present book to this exciting and epoch-awakening field of research and applications: “Nanotechnology is well recognized as a science and technology megatrend for the beginning of the 21st century. This book aims to show where nanotechnology is now - transitioning to complex systems and fundamentally new products - and communicates the societal promise of nanotechnology to specialists and the public. Most of what has already made it into the marketplace is in the form of “First Generation” products, passive nanostructures with steady behaviour. Many companies have “Second Generation” products, active nanostructures with changing behaviour during use, and embryonic “Third Generation” products, including 3-dimensional nanosystems. Concepts for “Fourth Generation” products, including heterogeneous molecular nanosystems, are only in research.”