Nanosystems
"Written by a leading researcher in the field and one of its founders, Nanosystems is the first technical introduction to molecular nanotechnology - an emerging field that has sparked increasing interest and controversy. This groundbreaking book describes fundamental physical principles, components and devices, then examines applications including computers of unprecedented power and manufacturing systems able to build such products molecule by molecule.". "Nanosystems presents a comprehensive overview of how molecular manufacturing will make products by using nanoscale (billionths of a meter) mechanical and robotic technologies to guide the placement of molecules and atoms. Working with these fundamental building blocks of matter will enable designers to approach the limits of the possible: to build the smallest devices, the fastest computers, the strongest materials, and the highest quality products. By manipulating common molecules at high frequency, molecular manufacturing will make these products quickly, inexpensively, and on a large scale. Molecular manufacturing is the key to implementing molecular nanotechnologies, building systems to complex atomic specifications.". "This landmark work first presents the basic principles of physics and chemistry required to understand molecular machines. Then, Dr.
Stats for nerds
6recommend
30mentions
19people
2007–2026years
20% recommend77% neutral3% critical
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- I would say 30 years after he wrote Nanosystems there hasn’t been any progress on the tip of the assembler. I still use that book as a model though for how to talk about advanced automatic manufacturing systems. The example of life shows it is possible to construct linear structures with three different systems that can fold up in pretty arbitrary ways, but maybe you can’t make diamond that way.
- "Part 2 of this volume is an exercise in theoretical applied science, a mode of research which aims to describe technological possibilities as constrained not by present-day laboratory and factory techniques, but by physical law." -Eric Drexler, Nanosystems, Appendix A.
Dude was very clear about his aims, and it is a shitty kind of strawman argument to dunk on Drexler like Scott Locklin is doing here. Physicists think like this all the time when considering upper- and lower-bounds to things. Drexler just had the temerity to put nice graphics alongside his speculation. It's not his fault if people got inspired. The upside of his work (inspiring dreamers to get into materials science, physical chemistry, even molecular/cellular biology) far outweighs even the worst downsides haters like Locklin can invent.
- FTL and antigravity violate physical law. Drexler’s designs just don’t. Point me to a design in Nanosystems the that is physically impossible to construct.
The point of Nanosystems was to explore what technologies are feasible given our current understanding of physics at that scale. It turns out there is a lot of latent potential there.
- If someone is interested in real technical description of molecular manufacturing, you may read Eric Drexler's "Nanosystems: Molecular Machinery, Manufacturing and Computation". Most parts of this book can be read on the author's website http://e-drexler.com/d/06/00/Nanosystems/toc.html , and if you know how to google you can find the whole book.
The book contains a careful physical analysis of molecular machines. The technical material is unchallenged to the present day.
- here's a book he wrote... 18 years ago. there's great stuff in there. how to build a computer out of rod logic. how get pure sources of elements by cascading filters... armatures for assembling individual atoms.
http://www.amazon.com/Nanosystems-Molecular-Machinery-Manufa...
Richard Feynman apparently had recursive ideas, use a lathe to make a tiny lathe, use the tiny lathe to make a really really tiny lathe... all the way down.
This is the future... but probably a long way away.
- I doubt a lego-scale model would help much, the forces and effects involved at the molecular scale are much different. However, K. Eric Drexler, father of the field of molecular nanotechnology, has done some theoretical work to show that it's feasible in his book "Engines of Creation". A newly revised version of it is available for free as an eBook: http://www.wowio.com/users/product.asp?BookId=503
A more technically oriented book is "Nanosystems": http://www.amazon.com/Nanosystems-Molecular-Machinery-Manufa...
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