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Radical Abundance: How a Revolution in Nanotechnology Will Change Civilization
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Review
Kirkus“A stimulating tour through current thinking about and future possibilities for nanotechnology, from one of its creators… A crackerjack piece of science and technology writing.”Albany Times Union“K. Eric Drexler writes in his accessible new book "Radical Abundance" that the digital revolution is about to give way to a form of production that will radically transform the world economy and that could also save the environment: nanotechnology, or more specifically, atomically precise manufacturing.”Nature Magazine“Nanotechnology pioneer Eric Drexler bids us to leap in at the technological deep end. We can transform the way we make everything from bridges to circuit boards, he argues, by harnessing molecular machines that operate on digital principles. The result? Desktop or garage facilities that use less fuel, land and energy than today’s vast factories and supply chains. The technical and political challenges of unleashing ‘atomically precise manufacturing’ are substantial, but Drexler cuts deftly through the complexities.”
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About the Author
K. Eric Drexler developed, named, and popularized the concept of nanotechnology. Currently at the Programme on the Impacts of Future Technology at Oxford University, Drexler is a frequent public speaker on scientific issues, addressing audiences of politicians, business leaders, scientists, and engineers in the Americas, Europe, and Asia.
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Product details
Hardcover: 368 pages
Publisher: PublicAffairs; First Edition (US) First Printing edition (May 7, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1610391136
ISBN-13: 978-1610391139
Product Dimensions:
9.5 x 1.1 x 6.5 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review:
3.7 out of 5 stars
50 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#899,813 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
This is an important book. That said, parts are a bit repetitive, examples tend to be general rather than specific. Illustrations would add a lot to the book, but there aren't any. So it could have been better executed, but the message is very important and Drexler is the right person to deliver it.
I have not read "Engines of Creation" but have read much about it. Radical Abundance shows the authors skill in science writing. Regarding atomically precise manufacturing, the author makes a convincing case for its advantages and its dangers. The dangers still haunt, as they did when he wrote Engines. Thus I was left think that his career and goals to help humanity might have been better spent if he had continued his early career in interest space colonization.
Rather disappointing. Then again, I have to say that I gave up halfway through the book; possibly I missed the good stuff.The first half is pretty much an apologia for what Eric Drexler called "nanotechnology" in his 1986 book, "Engines of Creation." That book triggered expectations which haven't been fulfilled in thirty years. The label "nanotechnology" has been applied to methods that don't resemble those Dr Drexler described in '86, so he eschews it in favor of the less exciting "atomically precise manufacturing" or "APM." His excitement has cooled, it seems.I was hoping for technical details and descriptions of methodology that I didn't find. What I found instead were chapters on the distinction between science and engineering, and the history of technology, written in what seems to me a defensive mood.
Once upon a time a nutty scientist gave a talk called “There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom.â€The scientist was the wacky and wonderfully entertaining Nobel Laureate Richard Feynman, the guy who solved the mystery of the Challenger disaster. It was 1959, and he was not referring to organization charts but, rather, to the bottom of the physical measurement scale. He was referring to atoms and molecules measured in nanometers.As a student, Eric Drexler took up Feynman’s challenge. He’s the man who crafted the term “nanotechnology†and set off a race for its realization. In Radical Abundance, he sets the record straight on this much-misunderstood field and paints a picture of a possible (not certain) future of plenty for the human race.It’s important to note at the outset that, despite the implied inevitability of the book’s subtitle, Drexler is not in a class with the boosters of a glorious future such as Ray Kurzweil and Peter Diamandis. (I previously reviewed Diamandis’ Abundance: The Future Is Better Than You Think.) Drexler is more level-headed than that. He recognizes the immensity of the challenges facing homo sapiens in the twenty-first century, from the self-inflicted travesty of global climate change, to the danger of massive unemployment once manufacturing is completely automated, to the sheer perversity of human nature in organized settings.A future of unlimited possibilityAt his most expansive, Drexler describes a revolutionary new nanotechnology manufacturing paradigm that could produce such items as ultra-efficient solar energy generators, ultra-safe, zero-emission automobiles, and, presumably, perfectly insulated dwellings with innumerable electronic capabilities — all from simple raw materials such as air, sand, and water.“Imagine a world,†Drexler writes, “where the gadgets and goods that run our society are produced not in a far-flung supply chain of industrial facilities, but in compact, even desktop-scale, machines. Imagine replacing an enormous automobile factory and all of its multi-million dollar equipment with a garage-size facility that can assemble cars from inexpensive, microscopic parts, with production times measured in minutes. Then imagine that the technologies that can make these visions real are emerging — under many names, behind the scenes, with a long road yet ahead, yet moving surprisingly fast.â€An unfortunate detour along the wayAs the author explains at length (and in more than one place, resulting in some duplication), his vision of nanotechnology — enunciated in a scholarly paper at MIT in 1981 and in a widely read book for the public, Engines of Creation, five years later — was a call for Atomically Precise Manufacturing (APM). In Drexler’s concept, scientists and engineers a few decades down the road would perfect the techniques of assembling atoms and molecules into minuscule machines capable of crafting slightly larger machines, which would in turn create even larger machines. After numerous generations of ever-more capable machines, the system would turn out all manner of useful items. And the whole manufacturing system would be housed in the equivalent of a box just slightly larger than the products it was designed to manufacture.Sadly, Drexler’s compelling vision was bowdlerized soon after the publication of Engines of Creation by both journalists who rhapsodized about such things as tiny robots that would rush to a blood clot and demolish it before damage could be done, and science fiction writers who, of course, went much further. You may recall reading about nanobots run wild and becoming “gray goo†that would consume everything in their path, including their creators. Though Drexler protested loudly that this was nonsense, the most colorful of these creations took hold in the public imagination and helped suppress the funding necessary for R&D to bring his vision to fruition.Even worse happened in 2000 during the transition from the Clinton Administration to that of George W. Bush. Earlier that year, Wired magazine published an article by Bill Joy — a cofounder of Sun Microsystems and one of the country’s most celebrated technologists — warning about the dangers inherent in nanotechnology, genetic engineering, and the creation of sentient robots. Joy’s disquiet was summed up in a single sentence: “robots, engineered organisms, and nanobots share a dangerous amplifying factor: They can self-replicate.†In effect, Joy had fallen prey to the “gray goo†fallacy. And apparently his fear projected onto the managers of a bill recently passed by Congress to allocate a billion dollars to nanotechnology research: instead of just taking the money and running with it, the custodians of the program rewrote the terms of the grant (after Congress had defined them) so as to rule out any mention of atoms or molecules and instead to redefine nanotechnology as a field dealing with anything really, really small (i.e., measured in nanometers). As a consequence, the field bifurcated into two streams, with the public drowning in all the confusion that came about.A book for scientists, engineers, and their fansRadical Abundance covers a lot of territory, from Drexler’s personal intellectual history to the history of technology to the difference between science and engineering as well as his vision of future plenty. However, much of the book requires more than a rudimentary understanding of science. Rather than characterize its audience as the general public, it’s probably fairer to say that those who would gain the most from the book are scientists, engineers, and people who can engage in conversations with them without becoming befuddled. In other words, the book is challenging at times for a reader such as me: my last organized brush with science was half a century ago in college, and what I learned then (little of which I remember) bears little resemblance to science today, anyway. Nonetheless, the prophetic message in Radical Abundance — and the numerous warning signs posted throughout the book — make this invaluable reading for anyone concerned about humanity’s prospects for the future.
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.
While I thought Drexler's book "Engines of Creation" was seminal in this field of atomic precise manufacturing APM, this one is more a philosophical history lesson than a revelation of how APM will unfold in the future
Refreshing optimistic view of our future. Illustrates the difficult and erratic path towards an unknown and complete new way of life. Shows what could be possible if we would be able to integrate "atomic precise manufacturing" into our production and consumtion habits.
It was a most important and informative work on the revolutionary affect molecular nanotech will have on civilization.
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