Interested in Nanotechnology but Can't Bear to Wade through Detailed Technical Reports? While reports on nanotechnology by research and marketing firms as well as governmental agencies are comprehensive and insightful, they can often be tedious to read, expensive to procure, and generally unknown to nonexperts interested in this technolog

This volume presents a comprehensive perspective on the global scientific, technological, and societal impact of nanotechnology since 2000, and explores the opportunities and research directions in the next decade to 2020. The vision for the future of nanotechnology presented here draws on scientific insights from U.S. experts in the field, examinations of lessons learned, and international perspectives shared by participants from 35 countries in a series of high-level workshops organized by Mike Roco of the National Science Foundation (NSF), along with a team of American co-hosts that includes Chad Mirkin, Mark Hersam, Evelyn Hu, and several other eminent U.S. scientists. The study performed in support of the U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) aims to redefine the R&D goals for nanoscale science and engineering integration and to establish nanotechnology as a general-purpose technology in the next decade. It intends to provide decision makers in academia, industry, and government with a nanotechnology community perspective of productive and responsible paths forward for nanotechnology R&D.

The unique nanoscale properties of renewable biomaterials presentvaluable opportunities in the field of nanoscience and technology.Lignocellulosic biomass is an important industrial resource whichcan be used for the production of highly efficient andenvironmentally sustainable nanomaterials. The Nanoscience and Technology of Renewable Biomaterialspresents the latest advances in biomass nanotechnology, includingleading research from academia and industry, as well as a futurevision for the nanotechnology of forest products. Topics covered include: A fundamental review of the relationship betweennanotechnology and lignocellulosic biomass Characterization methods for biomass on the nanometerscale Cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin as nanoscopicbiomaterials-physical features, chemical properties and potentialnanoproducts Nanoscale surface engineering Renewable materials as scaffolds for tissue engineering Nanoscopically-controlled drug delivery This book will be a valuable resource for chemists, chemicalengineers, bioscience researchers and materials scientists who areinterested in harnessing the nanotechnological features ofrenewable biomaterials.

The study tackles the subject in a new and unique way: Due to the fact that the borders between classical academic disciplines disappear at the nanoscale, a truly interdisciplinary approach is chosen. A functional definition of nanotechnology is developed by the authors as basis for the further sections of the study. The most important results enable recommendations with respect to scientific progress, industrial relevance, economic potential, educational needs, potential adverse health effects and philosophical aspects of nanotechnology. The book addresses the relevant decision levels, media, and academia.

Nanotechnology - technology at the molecular level - is held out by many as the Holy Grail for creating a trillion dollar economy and solving problems from curing cancer to reprocessing waste into products and building superfast computers. Yet, as with GMOs, many view nanotech as a high risk genie in a bottle that once uncorked has the potential to cause unpredictable, perhaps irreversible, environmental and public health disasters. With the race to bring products to market, there is pressing need to take stock of the situation and to have a full public debate about this new technological frontier. Including contributions by renowned figures such as Roland Clift, K. Eric Drexler and Arpad Pusztai, this is the first global overview of the state of nanotech and society in Europe, the USA, Japan and Canada, examining the ethics, the environmental and public health risks, and the governance and regulation of this most promising, and potentially most dangerous, of all technologies.