The Social and Economic Challenges of Nanotechnology Professor Stephen Wood nProfessor Richard Jones nAlison Geldart
STEPHEN WOOD is research chairand deputy director, Institute of WorkPsychology, University of Sheffield,co-director of the ESRC Centre forOrganisation and Innovation. He is also research associate, Centre forEconomic Performance, London Schoolof Economics and chief editor of theBritish Journal of Industrial Relations.RICHARD JONES is a professor in the Department of Physics andAstronomy, University of Sheffield. He co-ordinates interdisciplinaryresearch in nanotechnology atSheffield, and is co-director of the MSc course in Nanoscale Science and Technology which is jointly run by the Universities of Leeds and Sheffield.A L I S O N G E L DA RT is a research assistant in the ESRC Centre for Organisation and Innovation, Institute of Work Psychology, University of Sheffield. The views and statements expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of the ESRC.
Contents FOREWORDi Ian Diamondi Sir David Kingiii SUMMARY1 1INTRODUCTION3 2SCIENTIFIC CONTEXT5 Nanoscience and technology6 Technology that enables science7 Current themes in nanoscale science and technology10 Conclusions17 3COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS OF NANOTECHNOLOGY19 Tools19 Materials20 Electronics and information technology20 Medicine and health21 Cosmetics and food21 Military, space and security21 Environment and energy22 Radical proposal of molecular manufacturing22 Conclusions23 4THE NANOTECHNOLOGY DEBATE25 Conceptions of nanotechnology25 Social and economic effects30 Conclusions37 5THE SOCIAL DIMENSIONS OF NANOTECHNOLOGY39 Developing social science involvement39 Social science issues40 The implications for social science policy41 APPENDIX I: REFERENCES45 APPENDIX II: LITERATURE SUMMARY47
Foreword i the social and economic challenges of nanotechnologyNanotechnology is a new arena of science and engineering. Its early products mark only modest steps forward from those already in use, but its potential is immense . Its most extreme supporters claim that nanotechnology can rebuild the human body from within and effectively abolish death, while its enemies fear that instead, it could do away with life, by turning the surface of the Earth into an uninhabitable grey mess. The truth probably lies somewhere between these extremes. But even here the consequences are certain to be significant, with novel medical technology, faster computers, new energy sources and improved materials. It is the social, political and economic effects of nanotechnology that concern the Economic and Social Research Council. We are grateful to Professor Stephen Wood of the ESRC Centre for Organisation and Innovation and his colleagues for writing this report, which sets out the technological potential of this new field and illustrates very clearly the issues which nanotechnology raises for society as a whole.
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