What Is Nanotechnology and Why Does It Matter?: From Science to Ethics - Hardcover

Lin, Patrick; Moore, Daniel; Allhoff, Fritz

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1405175451 ISBN 13: 9781405175456

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010

Synopsis

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

About this title

About the Author

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.

From the Back Cover

Nanotechnology is an immensely complex area poised to impact virtually all areas of life, ushering in the next technological revolution.

What Is Nanotechnology and Why Does It Matter? provides a balanced understanding of this important emerging technology and the social and ethical issues that come from it. Divided into three sections, the book starts with a substantial introduction to the science of nanotechnology, then attends to basic issues and principles such as risk and regulations needed to evaluate nanotechnology&;s impact, with the final section closely examining some of the most important areas of application, such as environmental, privacy, military, medical and enhancement, as well as their ethical and social implications.

Designed for students in ethics and technology, What Is Nanotechnology and Why Does It Matter? is also an invaluable resource for policymakers, scientists, and industry executives.

What Is Nanotechnology and Why Does It Matter? provides a balanced understanding of this important emerging technology and the social and ethical issues that come from it. Divided into three sections, the book starts with a substantial introduction to the science of nanotechnology, then attends to basic issues and principles such as risk and regulations needed to evaluate nanotechnology’s impact, with the final section closely examining some of the most important areas of application, such as environmental, privacy, military, medical and enhancement, as well as their ethical and social implications.

Designed for students in ethics and technology, What Is Nanotechnology and Why Does It Matter? is also an invaluable resource for policymakers, scientists, and industry executives.

Edition details

• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1405175451
• ISBN 13: 9781405175456
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304