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Series on the Foundations of Natural Science and Technology – Vol. 6
NANO-ENGINEERING IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
An Introduction to the World of Nano-Design
Copyright © 2003 by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
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ISBN 981-238-073-6
ISBN 981-238-074-4 (pbk)
Printed in Singapore.
November 14, 2002 13:55 WorldScientific/ws-b9x6-0 nest
Preface
The idea of building unimaginable small things at the atomic level is nothing
new. Already in 1959, R. Feynman, the 1965 Nobel prize winner in physics,
described during his famous dinner talk, “There’s plenty of room at the
bottom!” how it might be possible to print the whole 24 volumes of the
Encyclopedia Brittanica on the head of a stick pin. He even speculated on
how to store information at atomic levels or how to build molecular-sized
machines:
“I am not afraid to consider the final question as to whether, ultimately
in the great future we can arrange atoms the way we want; the very atoms,
all the way down! ··· The principles of physics, as far as I can see, do
not speak against the possibility of maneuvering things atom by atom. It
is n