Nanotech Pioneers

The nanometer scale is where physicists, chemists, biologists, materials scientists and engineers met to create a new technology - nanotechnology. Scarcely imagined a few decades ago, it will certainly dominate the 21st century and affect our lives in ways not yet fully predictable. By definition, nanotech is far too small to be visible to the human eye, and so its effects may well catch us by surprise. Although nanotech still has a science-fiction aura, there are actually consumer products already available which employ nanotech - sunscreen, paint, tennis balls, non-staining fabrics, and some recently approved drugs. The variety of new products and technologies that will spin out of nanoscience is limited only by the imagination of the scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs drawn to this new field - the Nanotech Pioneers. Steve Edwards presents nanotechnology and its leading makers in an easily understandable fashion, suited for all readers regardless of academic background, but with enough facts and details to separate the hype from the real nanotech that is just around the next corner: - superior materials - stronger, lighter, harder, better - smart drugs that specifically target infected or malicious cells - life-like prosthetics, such as limb, joint or organ replacements, even artificial eyes - brain/computer interfaces - new computer architectures with immense capacities and abilities - new kinds of power sources that lessen our fossil fuel dependence With this book, Steven Edwards brings nanotechnology closer to the science-interested general public as well as scientists, students, organizations, journalists, politicians, and entrepreneurs.