Introduction
The rise of nanotechnology
Nanotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that encompasses various fields such as devices, electronics, medicine, nanomaterials and fabrication. It refers to the ability to control and measure matter at a really small scales, in the magnitude of nanometers.
The term nanotechnology was first used in 1974 by Norio Taguchi, a Japanese researcher. As a field of science, it was proposed in 1959 by Richard Feynman has been in Caltech in his lecture, “There’s plenty of room at the bottom”. In his lecture, he proposed the idea of being able to manipulate matter at the level of individual atoms and molecules. Thus, nanotechnology has been around for more than 50 years, at least as an idea and an area of active research and development for more than 20 years.
It has been show to be able to benefit society in ways that were both expected and unexpected and promises to provide a new way of addressing problems that face humanity new and novel ways [1]. This has resulted in the field of nanotechnology experience a boon as a lot of resources both human and non-human are directed towards nanotechnology research and development. Being a multi-disciplinary field, a lot of advances are being made on different fronts further enabling the rapid growth and advancement of the field.
References
- Benefits and Applications | Nano. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.nano.gov/you/nanotechnology-benefits