Radical Abundance: How a Revolution in Nanotechnology Will Change Civilization

In Radical Abundance Drexler offers an approach to the specification of a roadmap for the achievement of atomically precise manufacturing (APM). Key to the specification of a roadmap are intellectual tools to distinguish between science and engineering as well as types of engineering - exploratory engineering, systems engineering, etc. he points out that engineering approaches have not been applied to the nanotechnology field so a roadmap cannot emerge. On one level the book is an argument for the development of an APM roadmap and how this can be accomplished. Drexler outlines the historical evolution of nanotechnology from the coining of the term in his first book Engines of Creation published in 1986 to the subsequent confusion of the definition of nanotechnology through the politics of funding the multibillion dollar National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI). Initially, NNI was funded to address atomically precise manufacturing, but by 2004 all reference to atomically precise manufacturing (APM) was removed from the NNI strategic plan and replaced instead by a concentration on phenomena at the nanoscale. Drexler argues pursuasively that this misdirection of NNI cost the US and the countries that followed the US lead considerable progress through a misallocation of large research funding. Merely concentrating on the size of phenomena offers no tools for exploratory engineering to define how to actually build things atom by atom with atomic precision as is done through the biological processes pointed to by Drexler. Drexler also points to the considerable progress that his been made towards APM and draws conclusions that the nanotechnology revolution is getting underway and that nanotechnology will effect disruptive change in production of most products. This will create great opportunity, but will also create disruptive change globally. This book is a must read for those already involved in nanottechnology - the entrepreneurs, scientists and venture capitals investing their time and resources to make a new world possible. The book is also important for decision makers at all levels in government, industry and education and research. APM is not a fantasy. APM is possible and APM will transform the world. What must be initiated now to get ready?

Here is how I know a book on nanotechnology is a good one: I am a devoted nanotechnology freak. So... I was expecting something all stars and stripes, very kurzweilian and optimistic. All I got was real. Tempered and realistic. In real time with no unrealistic dreams. That sounded like real science. Facts and no fanfare. This book is what you need to know for where things are nanotechnologically today. And... where they are likely to be in the near future. Enough said.

Probably the most approachable of Drexler's books for the non-technical. Drexler has a profound grasp of the potential of nanotechnology and ATM (atomically precise manufacturing), and its influence on society. Few see what is coming. I share his opinion that our short-term focus on incremental and perhaps merely symbolic treatments of climate issues, toxic waste management, efficient energy production, and diminishing resources has distracted us from real progress in ATM that could nullify all these problems. The other impact he discusses is the impact of ATM’s influence on a society where scarcity has become a soon-forgotten thing of the past. Always clear and discerning, and often clever in his delivery, I found Drexler’s writing a bit uneven and repetitive, but his many insights are gems. Unfortunately, his transcendent vision may be too creative for hidebound politicians preferring feel-good over effective. A great read for those open to future ideas.

When he gets to the point, this is an interesting read, but he spend so much time developing conceptual and philosophic frameworks and taking twice as long as he could to make the point that I probably missed some great moments out of boredom. On the other hand, he makes a meticulous argument that the ingredients are in place for APM and we just need to have the right cooperation to bring them together. Those ideas are inspirational. I get the feeling he has spent so many years apologising for "nanotechnology" not coming to fruition fast that he feels he needed to defensively belabour the point about the progress already made and redefining of the goals.

Esse livro abriu um novo mundo de possibilidades na minha mente.

Eine Pflichtlektüre für jeden der kein unvollständiges Bild der Zukunft haben will. (Zur zeit leider nur englisch verfügbar daher halte ich auch die Beschreibung in englisch.) A must read for anyone who don't want to have an incomplete picture of the future. Since E. Drexler introduced the world to the term "nanotechnology" in his first non technical Book (Engines of Creation) the term has strongly changed in meaning. So much in fact that it's now widely used in exclusion of the original idea. Around the year 2000 massive funding missed pretty much entirely its intended target and the confusion led even to the stigmatization of the original field. In this book he tries to clear up the confusion and reconstructs as best to his ability what exactly happened. He introduces the term "atomically precise manufacturing" (APM) for the targeted technology to clear up existing confusion and prevent further one. The related technical book to this one is: "Nanosystems: Molecular Machinery, Manufacturing, and Computation". With the here reviewed complementary book "Radical Abundance" he tries to direct the view away from some virulent memes (partly spawned by his first non technical book) to the real meat of our path to a fully fledged atomically precise manufacturing (APM) technology. To avoid misunderstandings he tries to use more precise terms this leads to abbreviations like APM. Due to the nature of the subjects with pretty interwoven subtopics the book can be a bit repetitive. Especially in the later chapters. But I think it's very well structured for the common reader who is new to the topic of APM. The repetition is present since the same aspects are treated twice or thrice in different contexts to prevent readers from falling into the many known trapdoors and misassociations. Things which where barely tackled and I missed a bit where: *) More details about recycling. *) An explanation for the choice for doing convergent assembly all the way up to the macroscopic level. (I think I figured it out - It's likely for quick and efficient big scale reconfiguration of pre-produced products without the need to disassemble them down to the micro-blocks) *) More details about why he regards AFM (atoic force microscopy) mainly as distraction. Especially probing tool improvement and MEMS AFMs / MEMS grippers which could potentially be a lot faster than AFMs are not mentioned at all. (From other of his writings I guess It's that he thinks top down technology just comes in later in the game for managing bottom up pre-produced stuff - and that was it was targeted way to early.) In this Book E.Drexler uses the term "microblock" which I think might not have been ideal since it again points to size only (block is generic). Just like with "nano" which caused the mess that prompted him to write this book. Personally I'd have chosen a term like cyclecomponents since this name contains their main characterization features: re-composability and recyclability. I'd guess making "microblocks" smaller (a bit smaller than one micron - E.Drexler mentions design freedom here) greatly increases their generality and reusability. The price is a bit more coupling mechanism volume per product volume and thus less functionality per volume. I especially enjoyed: 1) That the book book also contains a tiny bit of the personal story of K. Eric Drexler. 2) Appendix I & II where he gives a bit of new details for how he thinks high throughput APM level technologies can be reached. Interesting extensions to the Appendix would have been: *) Some ideas/plans/engineering questions for introduction of stereotactic control. *) His thoughts on bio-minerals (second milestone in outlined incremental pathway) All in all I highly recommend reading this. Well written.

Il tema mi interessa molto, ma il libro è molto polemico e presuntuoso. Cercherò qualcosa di più concreto e approfondito...

It changes prevailing perception about lack of resources as well as enormity of challenges in current scenario .Must read for planers and im

I enjoyed it however it's an applied and still very theoretical. It's the best book available for the current cutting edge info on nanotechnology.