X-Message-Number: 1297.1
From: (Ralph Merkle)
Newsgroups: sci.nanotech
Subject: Drexler's New Book Available
Date: 8 Oct 92 15:59:33 GMT
"Nanosystems: Molecular Machinery, Manufacturing, and Computation"
by K. Eric Drexler, published by John Wiley & Sons, 1992 ($24.95),
is now available (at least from some bookstores: I bought a copy
from Computer Literacy in San Jose on October 5th).
"With this book, Drexler has established the field of molecular
nanotechnology. The detailed analyses show quantum chemists and
synthetic chemists how to build upon their knowledge of bonds
and molecules to develop the manufacturing systems of nanotechnology,
and show physicists and engineers how to scale down their concepts
of macroscopic systems to the level of molecules."
William A. Goddard III, Professor of Chemistry and Applied Physics,
Director, Materials and Molecular Simulation Center,
California Institute of Technology
"Devices enormously smaller than before will remodel engineering,
chemistry, medicine, and computer technology. How can we understand
machines that are so small? NANOSYSTEMS covers it all: power and
strength, friction and wear, thermal noise and quantum uncertainty.
This is THE book for starting the next century of engineering."
Marvin Minsky, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science,
Toshiba Professor of Media Arts and Sciences,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
"Manufactured products are made from atoms, and their properties depend
on how those atoms are arranged. This volume summarizes 15 years of
research in molecular manufacturing, the use of nanoscale mechanical
systems to guide the placement of reactive molecules, building complex
structures with atom-by-atom control. This degree of control is a
natural goal for technology: Microtechnology strives to build smaller
devices; materials science strives to make more useful solids; chemistry
strives to synthesize more complex molecules; manufacturing strives
to make better products. Each of these fields requires precise,
molecular control of complex structures to reach its natural limit,
a goal that has been termed molecular nanotechnology."
"It has become clear that this degree of control can be achieved. The
present volume assembles the conceptual and analytical tools needed
to understand molecular machinery and manufacturing, presents an
analysis of their core capabilities and explores how present laboratory
techniques can be extended, stage by stage, to implement molecular
manufacturing systems."
K. Eric Drexler, from the preface
>From the table of contents:
1. Introduction and Overview
1.1 Why molecular manufacturing?
1.2 What is molecular manufacturing?
1.3 Comparisons
1.4 The approach in this volume
1.5 Objectives of following chapters
Part I
2. Classical Magnitudes and Scaling Laws
2.1 Overview
2.2 Approximation and classical continuum models
2.3 Scaling of classical mechanical systems
2.4 Scaling of electromagnetic systems
2.5 Scaling of classical thermal systems
2.6 Beyond classical continuum models
2.7 Conclusions
3. Potential Energy Surfaces
3.1 Overview
3.2 Quantum theory and approximations
3.3 Molecular Mechanics
3.4 Potentials for chemical reactions
3.5 Continuum representations of surfaces
3.6 Conclusions
3.7 Further readings
4. Molecular Dynamics
4.1 Overview
4.2 Nonstatistical mechanics
4.3 Statistical mechanics
4.4 PES revisited: accuracy requirements
4.5 Conclusions
4.6 Further Reading
5. Positional Uncertainty
5.1 Overview
5.2 Positional uncertainty in engineering
5.3 Thermally excited harmonic oscillators
5.4 Elastic extension of thermally excited rods
5.5 Elastic bending of thermally excited rods
5.6 Piston displacement in a gas-filled cylinder
5.7 Longitudinal variance from transverse deformation
5.8 Elasticity, entropy, and vibrational modes
5.9 Conclusions
6. Transistions, Errors, and Damage
6.1 Overview
6.2 Transitions between potential wells
6.3 Placement errors
6.4 Thermomechanical damage
6.5 Photochemical damage
6.6 Radiation damage
6.7 Component and system lifetimes
6.8 Conclusions
7. Energy Dissipation
7.1 Overview
7.2 Radiation from forced oscillations
7.3 Phonons and phonon scattering
7.4 Thermoelastic damping and phonon viscosity
7.5 Compression of potential wells
7.6 Transitions among time-dependent wells
7.7 Conclusions
8. Mechanosynthesis
8.1 Overview
8.2 Perspectives on solution-phase organic synthesis
8.3 Solution-phase synthesis and mechanosynthesis
8.4 Reactive species
8.5 Forcible mechanochemical processes
8.6 Mechanosynthesis of diamondoid structures
8.7 Conclusions
Part II
9. Nanoscale Structural Components
9.1 Overview
9.2 Components in context
9.3 Materials and models for nanoscale components
9.4 Surface effects on component properties
9.5 Shape control in irregular structures
9.6 Components of high rotational symmetry
9.7 Adhesive interfaces
9.8 Conclusions
10. Mobile Interfaces and Moving Parts
10.1 Overview
10.2 Spatial Fourier transforms of nonbonded potentials
10.3 Sliding of irregular objects over regular surfaces
10.4 Symmetrical sleeve bearings
10.5 Further applications of sliding-interface bearings
10.6 Atomic-axle bearings
10.7 Gears, rollers, belts, and cams
10.8 Barriers in extended systems
10.9 Dampers, detents, clutches, and ratchets
10.10 Perspective: nanomachines and macromachines
10.11 Bounded continuum models revisited
10.12 Conclusions
11. Intermediate Subsystems
11.1 Overview
11.2 Mechanical measurment devices
11.3 Stiff, high gear-ratio mechanisms
11.4 Fluids, seals, and pumps
11.5 Convective cooling systems
11.6 Electromechanical devices
11.7 DC motors and generators
11.8 Conclusions
12. Nanomechanical Computational Systems
12.1 Overview
12.2 Digital signal transmission with mechanical rods
12.3 Gates and logic rods
12.4 Registers
12.5 Combinational logic and finite-state machines
12.6 Survey of other devices and subsystems
12.7 CPU-scale systems: clocking and power supply
12.8 Cooling and computational capacity
12.9 Conclusion
13. Molecular Sorting, Processing, and Assembly
13.1 Overview
13.2 Sorting and ordering molecules
13.3 Transformation and assembly with molecular mills
13.4 Assembly operations using molecular manipulators
13.5 Conclusions
14. Molecular Manufacturing Systems
14.1 Overview
14.2 Assembly operations at intermediate scales
14.3 Architectural issues
14.4 An examplar manufacturing-system architecture
14.5 Comparisons to conventional manufacturing
14.6 Design and complexity
14.7 Conclusions
Part III
15. Macromolecular Engineering
15.1 Overview
15.2 Macromolecular objects via biotechnology
15.3 Macromolecular objects via solution synthesis
15.4 Macromolecular objects via mechanosynthesis
15.5 Conclusions
16. Paths to Molecular Manufacturing
16.1 Overview
16.2 Backward chaining to identify strategies
16.3 Smaller, simpler systems (stages 3-4)
16.4 Softer, smaller, solution-phase systems (stages 2-3)
16.5 Development time: some considerations
16.6 Conclusions
Appendix A. Methodological Issues in Theoretical and Applied Science
A.1 The role of theoretical applied science
A.2 Basic issues
A.3 Science, engineering, and theoretical applied science
A.4 Issues in theoretical applied science
A.5 A sketch of some epistemological issues
A.6 Theoretical applied science as intellectual scaffolding
A.7 Conclusions
Appendix B. Related Research
B.1 Overview
B.2 How related fields have been divided
B.3 Mechanical engineering and microtechnology
B.4 Chemistry
B.5 Molecular biology
B.6 Protein engineering
B.7 Proximal probe technologies
B.8 Feynman's 1959 talk
B.9 Conclusions
Afterword
Symbols, Units, and Constants
Glossary
References
Index
556 pages in length.
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