Draft:Radical Abundance (book): Difference between revisions

Radical Abundance: How a Revolution in Nanotechnology Will Change Civilization is a 2013 nonfiction book by American engineer K. Eric Drexler. The book posits that developments in nanotechnology could bring about a radical shift in human civilization through advances in manufacturing, medicine, and environmental technologies.

Synopsis

Drexler explains the historical push towards atomically precise manufacturing (APM) of productive nanosystems, and how their eventual development will affect the world. He claims that nanotechnology suffered in its early years on account of being overhyped in popular media, which set unrealistic expectations for its early applications. When these false expectations were not met, it led to a decline in funding and interest. Despite that setback, the field continued to advance and now stands poised to revolutionize manufacturing.

Reception

Kirkus Reviews gave the book a starred review, writing that “Drexler takes readers into that landscape, explaining mechanical scaling, thermal energy, the vast difference between analog and digital, the crazy, counterintuitive world of self-assembly and the dark magic of crystal-structure prediction.”^[1] Publishers Weekly also praised Drexler’s writing, saying that “[he] is aware of the layperson’s position of ignorance and he writes comprehensively about the problems between scientific and engineering approaches, the myths of nanotechnology that have hindered its development.”^[2] Rudy M. Baum of Chemical & Engineering News gave the book a negative review, describing Drexler’s ideas as impractical and full of “magical thinking“.^[3]

References