No small matter

Felice Frankel

A small revolution is remaking the world. The only problem is, we can't see it. Images and descriptions reveal the virtually invisible realities and possibilities of nanoscience. An introduction to the science and technology of small things. An overview of recent scientific advances that have given us our ever-shrinking microtechnology - for instance, an information processor connected by wires only 1,000 atoms wide. New methods are described that are used to study nanostructures, suggest ways of understanding their often bizarre behavior, and outline their uses in technology. The various means of making nanostructures are explained and speculated about their importance for critical developments in information processing, computation, biomedicine, and other areas. No Small Matter considers both the benefits and the risks of nano/microtechnology - from the potential of quantum computers and single-molecule genomic sequencers to the concerns about self-replicating nanosystems.