This book explores the enormous diversity in social perspectives on the emergence of nanoscale sciences and technologies. It points to four nodes of interest where nano meets macro: in the making, in the public eye, in the big questions, and in the tough decisions. Each node draws attention to important lines of research and pertinent issues. The book is designed for interdisciplinary teaching, but the richness of issues and perspectives makes it of interest to all researchers, practitioners, and non-academics wanting an introduction to social perspectives on nanoscale sciences and technologies.
Explores the enormous diversity in social perspectives on the emergence of nanotechnologies under five broad categories: Philosophy, governance, science, representations and arts, and attention is drawn to important research lines and pertinent questions within and across these categories. To stimulate a thorough discussion the book includes pieces of science fiction and visual arts, as well as questions for reflection after each chapter.
This book comprehensively reviews the considerations of nanotechnology elaborated in philosophy, ethics, and the social sciences and systematizes and develops them further. It focuses on the issues of ethical responsibility regarding chances and risks of nanotechnology and its possible applications in the fields of synthetic nanoparticles, syntheti
This book explores the absent and missing in debates about science and security. Through varied case studies, including biological and chemical weapons control, science journalism, nanotechnology research and neuroethics, the contributors explore how matters become absent, ignored or forgotten and the implications for ethics, policy and society.The chapter 'Sensing Absence: How to See What Isn't There in the Study of Science and Security' is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license via link.springer.com.
This unique volume presents the recent advances in tissue regeneration. The authors are all active researchers in their respective fields with extensive experiences. The focus of the book is on the use of stem cells and nano-structured biomaterials for tissue regeneration/tissue engineering. It includes the use of stem cells, naturally derived extracellular matrix (ECM), synthetic biomimetic nano-fibers, synthetic nano-structured ceramics and synthetic nano-structured polymer/ceramic composites that can help/promote tissue regeneration. Methods on how to produce these nano-structured biomaterials are also discussed in several chapters. Future challenges and perspectives in the field of regenerative medicine (tissue regeneration) are also discussed.
With nanotechnology being a relatively new field, the questions regarding safety and ethics are steadily increasing with the development of the research. This book aims to give an overview on the ethics associated with employing nanoscience for products with everyday applications. The risks as well as the regulations are discussed, and an outlook for the future of nanoscience on a manufacturer’s scale and for the society is provided. Ethics in nanotechnology is a valuable resource for, philosophers, academicians and scientist, as well as all other industry professionals and researchers who interact with emerging social and philosophical ethical issues on routine bases. It is especially for deep learners who are enthusiastic to apprehend the challenges related to nanotechnology and ethics in philosophical and social education. This book presents an overview of new and emerging nanotechnologies and their societal and ethical implications. It is meant for students, academics, scientists, engineers, policy makers, ethicist, philosophers and all stakeholders involved in the development and use of nanotechnology.
In Mondo Nano Colin Milburn takes his readers on a playful expedition through the emerging landscape of nanotechnology, offering a light-hearted yet critical account of our high-tech world of fun and games. This expedition ventures into discussions of the first nanocars, the popular video games Second Life, Crysis, and BioShock, international nanosoccer tournaments, and utopian nano cities. Along the way, Milburn shows how the methods, dispositions, and goals of nanotechnology research converge with video game culture. With an emphasis on play, scientists and gamers alike are building a new world atom by atom, transforming scientific speculations and video game fantasies into reality. Milburn suggests that the closing of the gap between bits and atoms entices scientists, geeks, and gamers to dream of a completely programmable future. Welcome to the wild world of Mondo Nano.
Nanotechnology has the potential to revolutionize the agricultural and food industry with new tools for the molecular treatment of diseases, rapid disease detection, enhancing the ability of plants to absorb nutrients etc. Nanotechnology combines solid state physics, chemistry, electrical engineering, chemical engineering, biochemistry and biophysics, and materials science. It is a highly interdisciplinary area meaning that it involves ideas integrated from many traditional discipline. Nanotechnology (NT) is the production and use of materials with purposely engineered features close to the atomic or molecular scale. NT deals with putting things together atom by atom and with structures so small they are invisible to the naked eye. It provides the ability to create materials, devices and systems with fundamentally new functions and properties. The promise of NT is enormous. It has implications for almost every type of manufacturing process and product. Nanomaterials have extremely small size which having at least one dimension 100 nm or less. Nanomaterials can be nanoscale in one dimension (e.g. surface films), two dimensions (e.g. strands or fibres), or three dimensions (e.g. particles). They can exist in single, fused, aggregated or agglomerated forms with spherical, tubular, and irregular shapes. Common types of nanomaterials include nanotubes, dendrimers, quantum dots and fullerenes. Nanoparticle research is currently an area of intense scientific research, due to a wide variety of potential applications in biomedical, optical, and electronic fields. Nanoparticles are of great scientific interest as they are effectively a bridge between bulk materials and atomic or molecular structures. A bulk material should have constant physical properties regardless of its size, but at the nano-scale this is often not the case. This book introduces the reader to the world of nanotechnology by giving them in-depth details of different aspects of the field.
Over the last decades, nanoscience and nanotechnology has been ascribed the potential to contribute beneficial applications in fields such as medicine, cosmetics, or environmental remediation. At the same time it is still contested whether engineered nanomaterials might be not one-sidedly “good” but may also entail negative side-effects for human health and the environment. To address this uncertainty, academic and political initiatives have sought to establish norms and practices to assess and govern nanomaterials. Rooted in different disciplines such as ethics, ecology, law, social and political sciences, the chapters in this edited volume explore the normative approaches, societal practices, and legal mechanisms which have emerged in the nano-field over the last two decades. The chapters also present a broad variety of evaluative approaches that may assist societal actors in their attempts to actively shape and contribute to the debate about nanomaterials.
Environmental Nanotechnology is the first book to assist you in both understanding the properties of new nanomaterial-centered technology and assessing the potentially harmful effects these materials may have on the environment. The rapid pace of innovation in nanotechnology has posed a greater risk over health and environment demanding a need for responsible development, relevant policy framework and risk assessment guidelines. This book offers a comprehensive ovcerview of this challenging, inter-disciplinary research area. This book is an authoritative, in-depth exploration of the environmental consequences of nanotechnology. It provides a detailed account of the potential environmental benefits of nanotechnology, describing environmental technologies as well as other applications that can foster sustainable use of resources. The book will make fascinating and useful reading for engineers, scientists, administrators, environmental regulatory officials, public policy makers, and students in a range of science and engineering disciplines.
