K. Eric Drexler in 2001. For a more recent photo see http://www.e-drexler.com/p/idx04/00/0404drexlerBioCV.html

Kim Eric Drexler (born April 25, 1955 in Oakland, California) is an American engineer best known for popularizing the potential of molecular nanotechnology (MNT), from the 1970s and 1980s. His 1991 doctoral thesis at MIT was revised and published as the book "Nanosystems Molecular Machinery Manufacturing and Computation" (1992), which received the Association of American Publishers award for Best Computer Science Book of 1992. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... April 25 is the 115th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (116th in leap years). ... 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article needs additional references or sources to facilitate its verification. ... It has been suggested that Molecular engineering be merged into this article or section. ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979. ... This article cites very few or no references or sources. ... Year 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the 1991 Gregorian calendar). ... Mapúa Institute of Technology (MIT, MapúaTech or simply Mapúa) is a private, non-sectarian, Filipino tertiary institute located in Intramuros, Manila. ... Year 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar). ...

Life and work

Drexler was very strongly influenced by ideas on Limits to Growth in the early 1970s. His response in his first year at Massachusetts Institute of Technology was to seek out someone who was working on extraterrestrial resources. He found Dr. Gerard K. O'Neill of Princeton University, a physicist famous for strong focusing in particle accelerators and his landmark work on the concepts of space colonization. Drexler was involved in NASA summer studies in 1975 and 1976. Besides working summers for O'Neill building mass driver prototypes, he delivered papers at the first three Space Manufacturing conferences at Princeton. The 1977 and 1979 papers were co-authored with Keith Henson, and patents were issued on both subjects, vapor phase fabrication and space radiators. Buckminsterfullerene C60, also known as the buckyball, is the simplest of the carbon structures known as fullerenes. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (672x623, 147 KB)A 3D model of a C60 molecule, also called a Buckyball. Created by Michael Ströck (mstroeck) on February 6, 2006 in iMol for Mac OS X and Photoshop CS2. ... Nanotechnology reaches back to the late 19th century, when colloidal science first took root. ... Groups opposing the installation of nanotechnology laboratories in Grenoble, France, have spraypainted their opposition on a former fortress above the city Potential risks of nanotechnology can broadly be grouped into three areas: the risk to health and environment from nanoparticles and nanomaterials; the risk posed by molecular manufacturing (or advanced... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This is a list of organizations involved in nanotechnology. ... This is a list of references and appearances of Nanotechnology in works of fiction. ... This page aims to list all topics related to the field of nanotechnology. ... Nanomedicine is the medical application of nanotechnology. ... An example of a molecular self-assembly through hydrogen bonds reported by Meijer and coworkers in Angew. ... Molecular electronics (sometimes called moletronics) is a branch of applied physics which aims at using molecules as passive (e. ... Scanning probe microscopy (SPM) is a branch of microscopy that forms images of surfaces using a physical probe that scans the specimen. ... Nanolithography — or lithography at the nanometer scale — refers to the fabrication of nanometer-scale structures, meaning patterns with at least one lateral dimension between the size of an individual atom and approximately 100 nm. ... It has been suggested that Molecular engineering be merged into this article or section. ... Nanomaterials is the study of how materials behave when their dimensions are reduced to the nanoscale. ... The fullerenes, discovered in 1985 by researchers at Rice University, are a family of carbon allotropes named after Richard Buckminster Fuller and are sometimes called buckyballs. ... 3D model of three types of single-walled carbon nanotubes. ... Fullerene chemistry is a field of organic chemistry devoted to the chemical properties of fullerenes [1] [2] [3]. Research in this field is driven by the need to functionalize fullerenes and tune their properties. ... Carbon nanotubes have many potential applications, here is a short list of some of the most important: // clothes: waterproof tear-resistant cloth fibers combat jackets: MIT is working on combat jackets that use carbon nanotubes as ultrastrong fibers and to monitor the condition of the wearer. ... Examples of fullerenes in popular culture are numerous. ... Timeline of carbon nanotubes: Inside a carbon nanotube 1952 Radushkevich and Lukyanovich publish a paper in the Russian Journal of Physical Chemistry showing hollow graphitic carbon fibers that are 50 nanometers in diameter. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... It has been suggested that nanopowder be merged into this article or section. ... Fluorescence induced by exposure to ultraviolet light in vials containing various sized Cadmium selenide (CdSe) quantum dots. ... Colloidal gold is a suspension (or colloid) of sub-micrometre-sized particles of gold in a fluid, usually water. ... Colloidal silver is a colloid of silver particles in water. ... A molecular assembler is a molecular machine capable of assembling other molecules given instructions, energy, and a supply of smaller building block molecules to work from. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with mechanochemistry. ... Nanorobotics is the technology of creating machines or robots at or close to the scale of a nanometre (10-9 metres). ... Grey goo refers to a hypothetical end-of-the-world scenario involving molecular nanotechnology in which out-of-control self-replicating robots consume all living matter on Earth while building more of themselves (a scenario known as ecophagy). ... Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology Engines of Creation (ISBN 0-385-19973-2) is a seminal molecular nanotechnology book written by K. Eric Drexler in 1986. ... Limits to Growth was a 1972 book modeling the consequences of a rapidly growing world population and finite resource supplies, commissioned by the Club of Rome. ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979. ... The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private, coeducational research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. ... Gerard Kitchen ONeill (1927 - 1992) was a U.S. physicist and space pioneer. ... Princeton University is a private coeducational research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States of America. ... For the DC Comics Superhero also called Atom Smasher, see Albert Rothstein. ... Artists conception of a space habitat called the Stanford torus, by Don Davis Space colonization (also called space settlement, space humanization, space habitation, etc. ... The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an agency of the United States federal government, responsible for the nations public space program. ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ... Year 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the 1976 Gregorian calendar. ... A mass driver for lunar launch (artists conception) A mass driver or electromagnetic catapult is a method of spacecraft propulsion that would use a linear motor to accelerate payloads up to high speeds. ... Howard Keith Henson (b. ...

Drexler participated in NASA summer studies on space colonies in 1975 and 1976. He fabricated metal films a few tens of nanometers thick on a wax support to demonstrate the potentials of high performance solar sails. He was active in space politics, helping the L5 Society defeat the Moon Treaty in 1980. Solar sails (also called light sails, especially when they use light sources other than the Sun) are a proposed form of spacecraft propulsion. ... The original L5 Society logo, currently located at the L5 News archive on the World Wide Web The L5 Society was founded in 1975 by Carolyn and Keith Henson to promote the space colony ideas of Dr. Gerard K. ONeill. ...  signed and ratified  only signed The Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, better known as the Moon Treaty or Moon Agreement is an international treaty that turns jurisdiction of all heavenly bodies (including the orbits around such bodies) over to the international community. ...

During the late 1970s, he began to develop ideas about molecular nanotechnology (MNT). In 1979, Drexler encountered Richard Feynman's provocative 1959 talk There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom. The term nanotechnology was coined by the Tokyo Science University Professor Norio Taniguchi in 1974 to describe the precision manufacture of materials with nanometer tolerances, and was unknowingly appropriated by Drexler in his 1986 book Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology to describe what later became known as molecular nanotechnology (MNT). In that book, he proposed the idea of a nanoscale "assembler" which would be able to build a copy of itself and of other items of arbitrary complexity. He also first published the term "grey goo" to describe what might happen if a hypothetical self-replicating molecular nanotechnology went out of control. The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979. ... It has been suggested that Molecular engineering be merged into this article or section. ... Also: 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins. ... Richard Phillips Feynman (May 11, 1918 – February 15, 1988; IPA: ) was an American physicist known for expanding the theory of quantum electrodynamics, the physics of the superfluidity of supercooled liquid helium, and particle theory. ... In 1959, Richard Feynman gave the first talk on nanotechnology, entitled Theres Plenty of Room at the Bottom[1]. He considered the possibility of direct manipulation of individual atoms as a more powerful form of synthetic chemistry. ... Buckminsterfullerene C60, also known as the buckyball, is the simplest of the carbon structures known as fullerenes. ... Professor Norio Taniguchi of Tokyo Science University invented the term nanotechnology in 1974. ... 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... Year 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar). ... Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology Engines of Creation (ISBN 0-385-19973-2) is a seminal molecular nanotechnology book written by K. Eric Drexler in 1986. ... It has been suggested that Molecular engineering be merged into this article or section. ... Grey goo refers to a hypothetical end-of-the-world scenario involving molecular nanotechnology in which out-of-control self-replicating robots consume all living matter on Earth while building more of themselves (a scenario known as ecophagy). ...

Drexler holds three degrees from MIT [1]. He received his S.B. in Interdisciplinary Sciences in 1977 and his S.M. in 1979 in Astro/Aerospace Engineering with a Master's thesis titled "Design of a High Performance Solar Sail System,." In 1991 he earned a Ph.D. under the auspices of the MIT Media Lab (formally, the Media Arts and Sciences Section, School of Architecture and Planning). His Ph.D. work was the first doctoral degree on the topic of molecular nanotechnology and (after some editing) his thesis, "Molecular Machinery and Manufacturing with Applications to Computation," was published as "Nanosystems: Molecular Machinery, Manufacturing and Computation" (1992), which received the Association of American Publishers award for Best Computer Science Book of 1992. Mapúa Institute of Technology (MIT, MapúaTech or simply Mapúa) is a private, non-sectarian, Filipino tertiary institute located in Intramuros, Manila. ... SB or sb may be: antimony (Sb), chemical symbol for the chemical element stibium Solomon Islands, ISO country code Sluzba Bezpieczenstwa, the Polish secret police Bachelor of Science, abbreviation, aka. ... Also: 1977 (album) by Ash. ... ... Aerospace engineering is the branch of engineering that concerns aircraft, spacecraft, and related topics. ... Year 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the 1991 Gregorian calendar). ... Aquatint of a Doctor of Divinity at the University of Oxford, in the scarlet and black academic robes corresponding to his position. ... The building interior near the entrance The MIT Media Lab in the School of Architecture and Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology engages in education and research in the digital technology used for expression and communication. ... Year 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar). ...

Drexler and Christine Peterson, at that time husband and wife, founded the Foresight Institute in 1986 with the mission of "Preparing for nanotechnology.” Drexler and Peterson ended their 21-year marriage in 2002. Drexler is no longer a member of the Foresight Institute. This article reads like an advertisement, and therefore is not neutral in tone. ... Year 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar). ...

In August 2005 Drexler joined Nanorex, a molecular engineering software company based in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, to serve as the company's Chief Technical Advisor.[2][3] Nanorex's nanoENGINEER-1 software was reportedly able to simulate a hypothetical differential gear design in "a snap". According to Nanorex's web site, a public domain molecular design program is being released in 2006 spring 2007 real soon now. Bloomfield Hills is a city in Oakland County of the U.S. state of Michigan. ...

In 2006, Drexler married Rosa Wang, a former investment banker who works with Ashoka: Innovators for the Public on improving the social capital markets.

Controversy

Drexler's work on nanotechnology was criticized as naive by Nobel Prize winner Richard Smalley in a 2001 Scientific American article. Smalley first argued that "fat fingers" made MNT impossible. He later argued that nanomachines would have to resemble chemical enzymes more than Drexler's assemblers and could only work in water. Drexler maintained that both were straw man arguments, and in the case of enzymes, Prof. Klibanov wrote in 1994, "...using an enzyme in organic solvents eliminates several obstacles. . . " [4]) Drexler had difficulty in getting Smalley to respond, but in December 2003, Chemical and Engineering news carried a 4 part debate. [5] Richard Errett Smalley Richard Errett Smalley (June 6, 1943 – October 28, 2005) was the Gene and Norman Hackerman Professor of Chemistry and a Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Rice University, in Houston, Texas. ... Scientific American is a popular-science magazine, published (first weekly and later monthly) since August 28, 1845, making it the oldest continuously published magazine in the United States. ... A straw man argument is a logical fallacy based on misrepresentation of an opponents position. ...

One of the barriers to achieving molecular nanotechnology is the lack of an efficient way to create machines on a molecular/atomic scale. One of Drexler's early ideas was an "assembler," a nanomachine which would comprise an arm and a computer that could be programmed to build more nanomachines. If an assembler could be built, it might then build a copy of itself, and, thus, be potentially useful for efficient mass production of nanomachines. But the lack of a way to first build an assembler remains the sine qua non obstacle to achieving this vision. In the futuristic research field of nanotechnology, an assembler is a construction machine that manipulates and builds with individual atoms or molecules. ... Sine qua non or condicio sine qua non was originally a Latin legal term for without which it could not be (but for). It refers to an indispensable and essential action, condition, or ingredient. ...

A second difficulty in reaching molecular nanotechnology is design. Hand design of a gear or bearing at the level of atoms is a gruelling task. While Drexler, Merkle and others have created a few designs of simple parts, no comprehensive design effort for anything approaching the complexity of a Model T Ford has been attempted. The Ford Model T (colloquially known as the Tin Lizzie and the Flivver) was an automobile produced by Henry Fords Ford Motor Company from 1908 through 1927. ...

A third difficulty in achieving molecular technology is separating successful trials from failures, and elucidating the failure mechanisms of the failures. Unlike Darwinian evolution, which proceeds by random variations in ensembles of organisms combined with deterministic reproduction/extinction as a selection process to achieve great complexity after billions of years (a set of mechanisms which Richard Dawkins referred to as a "blind watchmaker"), deliberate design and building of nanoscale mechanisms requires a means other than reproduction/extinction to winnow successes from failures. Such means are difficult to provide (and presently non-existent) for anything other than small assemblages of atoms viewable by an AFM or STM. Clinton Richard Dawkins (born March 26, 1941) is a British ethologist, evolutionary biologist, and popular science writer who holds the Charles Simonyi Chair for the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University. ... Topographic scan of a glass surface The atomic force microscope (AFM) is a very high-resolution type of scanning probe microscope, with demonstrated resolution of fractions of a nanometer, more than 1000 times better than the optical diffraction limit. ... Image of substitutional Cr impurities (small bumps) in the Fe(001) surface. ...

Thus, even in the latest report A Matter of Size: Triennial Review of the National Nanotechnology Initiative put out by the National Academies Press in December 2006, (roughly twenty years after Engines of Creation was published) no clear way forward toward molecular nanotechnology is seen, as per the conclusion on page 108 of that report: "Although theoretical calculations can be made today, the eventually attainable range of chemical reaction cycles, error rates, speed of operation, and thermodynamic efficiencies of such bottom-up manufacturing systems cannot be reliably predicted at this time. Thus, the eventually attainable perfection and complexity of manufactured products, while they can be calculated in theory, cannot be predicted with confidence. Finally, the optimum research paths that might lead to systems which greatly exceed the thermodynamic efficiencies and other capabilities of biological systems cannot be reliably predicted at this time. Research funding that is based on the ability of investigators to produce experimental demonstrations that link to abstract models and guide long-term vision is most appropriate to achieve this goal." Perhaps the eventual "Technology Roadmap for Productive Nanosystems" will exhibit a more hopeful tone.

Books by Eric Drexler

• Engines of Creation (1986)
  • Available online at e-drexler.com
  • Available online in Russian as МАШИНЫ СОЗДАНИЯ: Грядущая эра нанотехнологии
  • Available online in Chinese as 创造的发动机
  • Available online in Italian as MOTORI DI CREAZIONE: L’era prossima della nanotecnologia
• Unbounding the Future (1991; with Chris Peterson and Gayle Pergamit) (ISBN 0-688-12573-5)
  • Available online at Unbounding the Future: the Nanotechnology Revolution
• Nanosystems Molecular Machinery Manufacturing and Computation (1992)
  • Sample chapters and a table of contents are available online at e.drexler.com
• Engines of Creation 2.0: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology - Updated and Expanded,K. Eric Drexler,647 pages, (February 2007) - fulltext at Wowio

Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology Engines of Creation (ISBN 0-385-19973-2) is a seminal molecular nanotechnology book written by K. Eric Drexler in 1986. ...

Books and articles about Eric Drexler

• Great Mambo Chicken and the Transhuman Condition by Ed Regis. ISBN 0-201-56751-2
• Nano: The Emerging Science of Nanotechnology by Ed Regis. ISBN 0-316-73852-2
• "The Creator": Interview with Eric Drexler by Michael Berry
• "The Incredible Shrinking World of Eric Drexler": Red Herring Interview by Anthony B. Perkins Augist 1, 1995
• "The Incredible Shrinking Man: K. Eric Drexler was the godfather of nanotechnology. But the MIT prodigy who dreamed up molecular machines was shoved aside by big science - and now he's an industry outcast." Ed Regis, Wired Magazine, Issue 12.10, October 2004

Trivia

Drexler is mentioned in the science fiction book The Diamond Age as one of the heroes of a future world where nanotechnology is ubiquitous. Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... The Diamond Age or, A Young Ladys Illustrated Primer is a postcyberpunk novel by Neal Stephenson. ...

See also

• Foresight Institute (Drexler is no longer with Foresight Institute)
• Robert Freitas - Nanomedicine advocate
• Ralph Merkle - nanotechnologist
• Richard Feynman - physicist
• Gerard O'Neill - space advocate

This article reads like an advertisement, and therefore is not neutral in tone. ... Robert A. Freitas Jr. ... Nanomedicine is the medical application of nanotechnology. ... Ralph C. Merkle (born 2 February 1952) is a pioneer in public key cryptography, and more recently a researcher and speaker on molecular nanotechnology and cryonics. ... Richard Phillips Feynman (May 11, 1918 – February 15, 1988; IPA: ) was an American physicist known for expanding the theory of quantum electrodynamics, the physics of the superfluidity of supercooled liquid helium, and particle theory. ... Articles with similar titles include physician, a person who practices medicine. ... Gerard Kitchen ONeill (1927 - 1992) was a U.S. physicist and space pioneer. ... Space advocacy is a political position that favors the exploration, utilization, and colonization of outer space. ...

Notes

External links

• e-drexler.com, Drexler's own web site, includes:
  • Biography
  • Publications
• Who's Who in the Nanospace