What Is Nanotechnology and Why Does It

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

Fritz Allhoff is Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy at Western Michigan University, where he also holds an affiliation with the Mallinson Institute for Science Education. He has held fellowships at the Center for Philosophy of Science at the University of Pittsburgh and the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics at the Australian National University. He has edited more than 20 books, including two on the social and ethical implications of nanotechnology.

Patrick Lin is the director of Ethics + Emerging Sciences Group at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, and holds academic appointments at Dartmouth College, US Naval Academy and Western Michigan University. He is also lead author of a recent major report funded by the Department of Navy entitled Autonomous Military Robotics: Risk, Ethics, and Design (2008), as well as other publications in technology ethics, including edited anthologies on nanoethics.

Daniel Moore is a research scientist on nanoscale semiconductor solutions for IBM. He served on the Georgia Institute of Technology’s honor committee and has received numerous fellowships, including the Molecular Design Institute Fellowship, the GT Nanoscience and Technology Fellowship, the School of Materials Science and Engineering Advanced Publication Award, the NSF STEP Fellowship, and a Sam Nunn Security Fellowship. His professional experience includes nanoscale research in other leading industry laboratories.

Preface	p. viii
What Is Nanotechnology?	p. 1
The Basics of Nanotechnology	p. 3
Definitions and Scales	p. 3
The Origins of Nanotechnology	p. 5
The Current State of Nanotechnology	p. 8
The Future of Nanotechnology	p. 12
Nanotechnology in Nature and Applications	p. 16
Tools of the Trade	p. 20
Seeing the Nanoscale	p. 21
Basic Governing Theories	p. 30
Nanomaterials	p. 36
Formation of Materials	p. 36
Carbon Nanomaterials	p. 37
Inorganic Nanomaterials	p. 44
Applied Nanotechnology	p. 56
Using Nanomaterials	p. 56
Nanotechnology Computing and Robotics	p. 62
Predicting the Future of Technology	p. 67
Risk, Regulation, and Fairness	p. 71
Risk and Precaution	p. 73
Risk	p. 73
Cost-Benefit Analysis	p. 79
Precautionary Principles	p. 82
Evaluating the Precautionary Principle	p. 89
Regulating Nanotechnology	p. 96
The Stricter-Law Argument	p. 97
Learning from History	p. 100
Objections to the Stricter-Law Argument	p. 102
An Interim Solution?	p. 120
Putting the Pieces Together	p. 124
Equity and Access	p. 126
Distributive Justice	p. 127
Nanotechnology and the Developing World	p. 132
Water Purification	p. 135
Solar Energy	p. 140
Medicine	p. 143
Nanotechnology, the Developing World, and Distributive Justice	p. 145
Ethical and Social Implications	p. 151
Environment	p. 153
Society, Technology, and the Environment	p. 154
Environmental Risks of Nanotechnology	p. 159
Nanotechnology Solutions to Environmental Problems	p. 161
Overall Assessments: Risk and Precaution	p. 168
Military	p. 170
The Military and Technology	p. 170
A Nano-Enabled Military	p. 173
A Nano-Enabled Defense System	p. 177
Ethical Concerns	p. 179
Privacy	p. 185
Historical and Legal Background	p. 186
Philosophical Foundations	p. 192
Radio Frequency Identity Chips	p. 198
Item-Level Tagging	p. 201
Human Implants	p. 204
RFID-Chipped Identification	p. 207
Is RFID a Threat to Privacy?	p. 210
Medicine	p. 215
The Rise of Nanomedicine	p. 216
Diagnostics and Medical Records	p. 219
Treatment	p. 223
Moving Forward	p. 227
Human Enhancement	p. 230
What is Human Enhancement?	p. 231
Defining Human Enhancement	p. 234
The Therapy-Enhancement Distinction	p. 237
Human Enhancement Scenarios	p. 240
Untangling the Issues in Human Enhancement	p. 243
Restricting Human Enhancement Technologies?	p. 252
Conclusion	p. 254
Chapter Summaries	p. 255
Final Thoughts and Future Investigations	p. 258
References	p. 261
Index	p. 282
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

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What Is Nanotechnology and Why Does It Matter? From Science to Ethics

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