Spring 1995
Concern for man himself and his fate must always form the chief interest of all technical endeavors, concern for the great unsolved problems of the organization of labor and the distribution of goods-in order that the creations of our minds shall be a blessing and not a curse to mankind. Never forget this in the midst of your diagrams and equations.
-Albert Einstein, Caltech Address 1931
It's been said that Homo Sapiens is the only species with a history, yet we are strangely unmindful and forgetful of our brief past. The year 1995 brings us closer to the end of the bloodiest century ever, and closer to the end of an extraordinary millennium. For decades, humanity has skirted a dangerous path around global war, nuclear annihilation, the totalitarianism of fascism and communism, revolutions, and the erosion of democracy everywhere. The 21st century does not beckon with new hope so much as old problems, as environmental destruction and economic chaos seem likely to continue and worsen.
But the future wasn't always seen this way. Late 19th and early 20th century visionaries foresaw a bright, hopeful age of material wealth and comfort for all, brought about by the ever increasing power of technology. Visions of personal helicopters, robot servants, everyday space-travel and immense, pristine citadels of steel and glass to live in were common. Technological progress was trusted to soon solve all the old, persistent problems of poverty and hunger, freeing humanity from physical drudgery and toil to develop free, democratic societies.
We may chuckle at the naivet<è> of some visionaries, or not care for the sterile future cities they expected, but their unfulfilled optimism raises a serious question: What has happened to technology's promise? Why haven't poverty and hunger been eradicated? We possess the technical ability to end both scourges, if so desired. Yet why have the most powerful technologies, the majority of our resources, and the talents of our scientists and engineers been largely wasted on weapons and other, more subtle means of bringing about greater human misery? I don't mean to belittle the very real and great strides technology has made in the last hundred or three hundred years, but rather to ask, to what ends have they been used? For who's benefit, and who's loss? Who controls technology? What is the role of the scientist? The public? What political and economic interests are being served with the existing institutions of science, technology, energy and medicine? With the imminent development of nanotechnology, such questions have more urgency than ever before.
Nanotechnology, or molecular manufacturing, will bring inexpensive and complete control of matter at the atomic level. With nanotechnology, anything we now build with slow, tedious, and expensive effort can be built quickly and cheaply to the highest standard of quality imaginable. It will revolutionize manufacturing, computers, food production, transportation, medicine; in short, all of technology. It holds the promise of a comfortable society of unimaginable wealth and no pollution, with humanity free to develop its creativity. It also holds the threat of new weapons dwarfing nuclear bombs in destructive power, of new means of coercion and violence, of a dead society physically free and mentally enslaved. One thing is certain: nanotechnology will be among the most profound developments ever in human history. Our generation will see and participate in its creation, growth, uses and direction, for good or for ill.
This issue of the SciTech is devoted to nanotechnology: what it is, how it may be developed, and what it could be used for. In a few years or decades, nanotechnology will present difficult, far-reaching choices to our species; learning about it and discussing it now may well determine our future. For, as always, to each person is given the key to the gates of heaven; the same key opens the gates of hell. Studying and understanding the key and keyholder, then, demands the greatest time and attention.
Kai Wu '96
Editor