1.1 Why NaNomaterials?
Imagine dissociating a human body into its most fundamental
building blocks. We would collect a considerable portion of gases,
namely hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen; sizable amounts of carbon
and calcium; small fractions of several metals such as iron, magnesium, and zinc; and tiny levels of many other chemical elements
(see Table 1.1). The total cost of these materials would be less than
the cost of a good pair of shoes. Are we humans worth so little?
Obviously not, mainly because it is the arrangement of these
elements and the way they are assembled that allow human beings
to eat, talk, think, and reproduce. In this context, we could ask
ourselves: What if we could follow nature and build whatever we
want, atom by atom and/or molecule by molecule?
In 1959, Physics Nobel Laureate Richard Feynman gave a talk at
Caltech on the occasion of the American Physical Society meeting.
The talk was entitled, “There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom.” In
this lecture, Feynman said:
What I want to talk about is the problem of manipulating
and controlling things on a small scale … What are the
limitations as to how small a thing has to be before you can
no longer mold it? How many times when you are working
on something frustratingly tiny like your wife’s wrist watch
have you said to yourself, “If I could only train an ant to
do this!” What I would like to suggest is the possibility of
training an ant to train a mite to do this … A friend of mine
(Albert R. Hibbs) suggests a very interesting possibility
for relatively small machines. He says that, although it is
a very wild idea, it would be interesting in surgery if you
1
Nanomaterials and Nanotechnologies:
An Overview
Chapter 1
Nanomaterials, Nanotechnologies and Design
Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.
Imagine dissociating a human body into its most fundamental
building blocks. We would collect a considerable portion of gases,
namely hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen; sizable amounts of carbon
and calcium; small fractions of several metals such as iron, magnesium, and zinc; and tiny levels of many other chemical elements
(see Table 1.1). The total cost of these materials would be less than
the cost of a good pair of shoes. Are we humans worth so little?
Obviously not, mainly because it is the arrangement of these
elements and the way they are assembled that allow human beings
to eat, talk, think, and reproduce. In this context, we could ask
ourselves: What if we could follow nature and build whatever we
want, atom by atom and/or molecule by molecule?
In 1959, Physics Nobel Laureate Richard Feynman gave a talk at
Caltech on the occasion of the American Physical Society meeting.
The talk was entitled, “There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom.” In
this lecture, Feynman said:
What I want to talk about is the problem of manipulating
and controlling things on a small scale … What are the
limitations as to how small a thing has to be before you can
no longer mold it? How many times when you are working
on something frustratingly tiny like your wife’s wrist watch
have you said to yourself, “If I could only train an ant to
do this!” What I would like to suggest is the possibility of
training an ant to train a mite to do this … A friend of mine
(Albert R. Hibbs) suggests a very interesting possibility
for relatively small machines. He says that, although it is
a very wild idea, it would be interesting in surgery if you
1
Nanomaterials and Nanotechnologies:
An Overview
Chapter 1
Nanomaterials, Nanotechnologies and Design
Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.