What is Nanotechnology and Why Does it Matter? - From Science to Ethics
Published on 17. December 2009
Software
Other digital
304 pages
978-1-4443-1799-2 (ISBN)
Description
Ongoing research in nanotechnology promises both innovations and risks, potentially and profoundly changing the world. This book helps to promote a balanced understanding of this important emerging technology, offering an informed and impartial look at the technology, its science, and its social impact and ethics. Nanotechnology is crucial for the next generation of industries, financial markets, research labs, and our everyday lives; this book provides an informed and balanced look at nanotechnology and its social impact Offers a comprehensive background discussion on nanotechnology itself, including its history, its science, and its tools, creating a clear understanding of the technology needed to evaluate ethics and social issues Authored by a nanoscientist and philosophers, offers an accurate and accessible look at the science while providing an ideal text for ethics and philosophy courses Explores the most immediate and urgent areas of social impact of nanotechnology
Reviews / Votes
"This book was very carefully constructed. Painstaking internal cross-reference refer the reader to fuller discussions of topics in other chapters. Nearly every chapter, at the start and conclusion, includes a few sentences on scope." (Nanotechnology Law & Business, summer 2010)More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Chicester
United Kingdom
Publishing group
John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 238 mm
Width: 163 mm
Thickness: 32 mm
Weight
606 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4443-1799-2 (9781444317992)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Fritz Allhoff | Patrick Lin | Daniel Moore
What Is Nanotechnology and Why Does It Matter?
From Science to Ethics
E-Book
11/2009
Wiley-Blackwell
€33.99
Available for download
Persons
Fritz Allhoff is Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy at Western Michigan University, where he also holds an affiliation with the Mallinson Institute for Science Education. He has held fellowships at the Center for Philosophy of Science at the University of Pittsburgh and the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics at the Australian National University. He has edited more than 20 books, including two on the social and ethical implications of nanotechnology. Patrick Lin is the director of Ethics + Emerging Sciences Group at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, and holds academic appointments at Dartmouth College, US Naval Academy and Western Michigan University. He is also lead author of a recent major report funded by the Department of Navy entitled Autonomous Military Robotics: Risk, Ethics, and Design (2008), as well as other publications in technology ethics, including edited anthologies on nanoethics. Daniel Moore is a research scientist on nanoscale semiconductor solutions for IBM. He served on the Georgia Institute of Technology's honor committee and has received numerous fellowships, including the Molecular Design Institute Fellowship, the GT Nanoscience and Technology Fellowship, the School of Materials Science and Engineering Advanced Publication Award, the NSF STEP Fellowship, and a Sam Nunn Security Fellowship. His professional experience includes nanoscale research in other leading industry laboratories.
Content
Preface. Unit I What Is Nanotechnology? 1 The Basics of Nanotechnology. 1.1 Definitions and Scales. 1.2 The Origins of Nanotechnology. 1.3 The Current State of Nanotechnology. 1.4 The Future of Nanotechnology. 1.5 Nanotechnology in Nature and Applications. 2 Tools of the Trade. 2.1 Seeing the Nanoscale. 2.2 Basic Governing Theories. 3 Nanomaterials. 3.1 Formation of Materials. 3.2 Carbon Nanomaterials. 3.3 Inorganic Nanomaterials. 4 Applied Nanotechnology. 4.1 Using Nanomaterials. 4.2 Nanotechnology Computing and Robotics. 4.3 Predicting the Future of Technology. Unit II Risk, Regulation, and Fairness. 5 Risk and Precaution. 5.1 Risk. 5.2 Cost-Benefit Analysis. 5.3 Precautionary Principles. 5.4 Evaluating the Precautionary Principle. 6 Regulating Nanotechnology. 6.1 The Stricter-Law Argument. 6.2 Learning from History. 6.3 Objections to the Stricter-Law Argument. 6.4 An Interim Solution? 6.5 Putting the Pieces Together. 7 Equity and Access. 7.1 Distributive Justice. 7.2 Nanotechnology and the Developing World. 7.3 Water Purification. 7.4 Solar Energy. 7.5 Medicine. 7.6 Nanotechnology, the Developing World, and Distributive Justice. Unit III Ethical and Social Implications. 8 Environment. 8.1 Society, Technology, and the Environment. 8.2 Environmental Risks of Nanotechnology. 8.3 Nanotechnology Solutions to Environmental Problems. 8.4 Overall Assessments: Risk and Precaution. 9 Military. 9.1 The Military and Technology. 9.2 A Nano-Enabled Military. 9.3 A Nano-Enabled Defense System. 9.4 Ethical Concerns. 10 Privacy. 10.1 Historical and Legal Background. 10.2 Philosophical Foundations. 10.3 Radio Frequency Identity Chips. 10.4 Item-Level Tagging. 10.5 Human Implants. 10.6 RFID-Chipped Identification. 10.7 Is RFID a Threat to Privacy? 11 Medicine. 11.1 The Rise of Nanomedicine. 11.2 Diagnostics and Medical Records. 11.3 Treatment. 11.4 Moving Forward. 12 Human Enhancement. 12.1 What is Human Enhancement? 12.2 Defining Human Enhancement. 12.3 The Therapy-Enhancement Distinction. 12.4 Human Enhancement Scenarios. 12.5 Untangling the Issues in Human Enhancement. 12.6 Restricting Human Enhancement Technologies? 13 Conclusion. 13.1 Chapter Summaries. 13.2 Final Thoughts and Future Investigations. References. Index.