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> Drexler, the early nanotechnology guy, back when nanotechnology meant pushing atoms around by mechanical means, rather than surface chemistry. I bought his b
by euroderf 2y ago
> Drexler, the early nanotechnology guy, back when nanotechnology meant pushing atoms around by mechanical means, rather than surface chemistry.
I bought his book Engines of Creation when it came out and his thesis had the air of inevitability - how could it not materialize some day ? It seemed so self-evident.
- exe34 2y agoI remember reading engines of creation in my second year of uni and then asking Andre Geim for a summer placement - he said no, he was busy, and then a few months after he got the Nobel prize. Instead I went to the material science school and got a summer project playing with the old tunneling electron microscope in the basement. it felt like flying a 747, given how many buttons, levers and knobs you had to tune to get a good picture of nanotubes. They also showed me their state of the art AFM but I wasn't allowed to breathe near it.
- infinite8s 2y agoPushing atoms around by mechanical means only seems plausible if you've never really studied molecular chemistry - see the Drexler/Smalley debate - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drexler%E2%80%93Smalley_debate_on_molecular_nanotechnology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drexler%E2%80%93Smalley_debate...
- patrickhogan1 2y agoIt’s a good debate. I tend to agree with Ray K’s commentary.