U.S. Department of Energy

Office of Science

For more information on the Office of Science visit our website:

www.science.doe.gov

The Beauty of Nanoscale Science

Summary

Nanoscience3⁄4 the study of matter at the atomic scale3⁄4 takes us into a realm where the 

properties of materials are dramatically different. It is a realm demanding new tools and new 

understanding, but it may hold the key to a second industrial revolution. The aim is to gain 

control of materials and devices at the atomic and molecular level, allowing us to design 

materials with properties tailored to specific needs such as strong, lightweight materials; solar 

energy conversion; and new lubricants.

In his address to the annual meeting of the 

American Association for the Advancement of 

Science, Jack Marburger, the President’s 

Science Advisor, spoke of the importance of 

probing the frontiers of complexity. By that he 

meant the atom-by-atom understanding of matter 

and the subsequent unprecedented ability to 

design and construct new materials with 

properties that are not found in nature.

“The revolution I am describing,” he said, “is 

one in which the notion that everything is made 

of atoms finally becomes operational. ... We 

can actually see how the machinery of life 

functions, atom-by-atom. We can actually build 

atomic scale structures that interact with biological or inorganic systems and alter their 

functions. We can design new tiny objects 

"from scratch" that have unprecedented optical, 

mechanical, electrical, chemical, or biological 

properties that address needs of human society.”

The revolution that Dr. Marburger describes 

required two developments: First, the development of a set of major instruments and tools to 

probe and manipulate matter at the atomic scale 

such as the synchrotron x-ray and neutron 

scattering sources, the electron microscopes, and 

even the technologies for sequencing entire 

genomes quickly and accurately; and second, the 

development of high-performance computers. 

The Office of Science has played a major role, 

indeed sometimes the major role, in both. This 

impact results from a deliberate philosophy of 

identifying seminal challenges and establishing 

coordinated programs that transcend what individuals alone can do. This is a unique attribute 

of the Office of Science, and it is one of our 

strengths. It is also what helps to distinguish 

research at our laboratories from that in the 

Nation’s universities. 

As we look to the coming years, the challenges 

are greater still. The new millennium takes us 

deep into the world of complexity described by 

Jack Marburger. Here, simple structures interact 

to create new phenomena and assemble themselves into devices. Here also, large complicated 

structures can be designed atom by atom for 

desired characteristics. New tools, new understanding, and a developing convergence of the 

disciplines of physics, chemistry, materials 

science, biology, computation, and engineering 

will enable us to build on our 20th Century 

successes and begin to ask and solve questions 

that were, until the 21st Century, the stuff of 

science fiction.

For example, can we harness, control, or mimic 

the exquisite complexity of Nature? Enormous 

energy savings, pollution reduction, and productivity increases would be achieved by the 

development of materials and systems with the 

enhanced properties seen in Nature, including 
U.S. Department of Energy

Office of Science

For more information on the Office of Science visit our website:

www.science.doe.gov

the ability to self-assemble, self-repair, sense, 

respond, and evolve. 

In many cases, accomplishment of these goals 

may appear to be beyond our reach, but no more 

so perhaps than optical tweezers, polymerase 

chain reaction, or gene therapy appeared a few 

years ago. We may or may not be able to reproduce all the characteristics of natural systems 

and tailor them to nonbiological needs. However, the study of Nature can clearly guide us 

and lead to achievements of great value that 

would not otherwise be made. Nature’s 

achievements are therefore benchmarks for our 

increasing control of materials and materials 

systems. This is, perhaps, the ultimate goal. 

Nature tells us it can be done and provides us 

with examples to serve as our models. We learn 

about Nature’s design rules and try to mimic 

green plants that capture solar energy, or genetic 

variation as a route to "self-improvement" and 

optimized function. These concepts may seem 

fanciful, but with the revolution now taking 

place in biology, progressing from DNA 

sequence to structure and function, the possibilities seem endless.

Now is the time. We can now do this research, 

make these breakthroughs, and enhance our lives 

as never before imagined. The work of the past 

few decades has taken us to this point, solving 

many of the problems that underlie these challenges, teaching us how to approach problems of 

complexity, giving us the confidence needed to 

achieve these goals. 

This work also gave us the ability to compute on 

our laps with more power than the Apollo astronauts had on their missions to the moon. It 

taught us to engineer genes, "superconduct" 

electricity, visualize individual atoms, build 

plastics 10 times stronger than steel, and put 

lasers on chips for portable CD players. We are 

ready to take the next steps.

For further information on this subject contact:

Dr. Patricia Dehmer, Director 

Office of Basic Energy Sciences 

301-903-3081

patricia.dehmer@science.doe.gov