Flakiness in this broad field will tend to reduce funding and to reduce the number and quality of workers. A consensus on sound ideas, however, will tend to have positive effects. This will make possible a nanotechnology that includes both nanomachines and nanoelectronics. These advances will change macroscopic technology as well, because all technology rests ultimately on our ability to arrange atoms to make hardware. The prospect of nanotechnology forces a reevaluation of our expectations regarding the next several decades.
New dangers make foresight vitally important.
This paper outlines some basic facts regarding the nature and consequences of nanotechnology. Sometime ago, I reported on a recent discovery of how gene sequences can be used for mathematical optimization calculations. Hypertext Publishing and the Evolution of Knowledge by K. Eric Drexler Media affect the evolution of knowledge in society. A suitable hypertext publishing medium can speed the evolution of knowledge by aiding the expression, transmission, and evaluation of ideas. If one aims, not to compete with the popular press, but to supplement journals and conferences, then the problems of hypertext publishing seem soluble in the near term.