book review | Radical Abundance: How a Revolution in Nanotechnology Will Change Civilization

book review | Radical Abundance: How a Revolution in Nanotechnology Will Change Civilization
August 24, 2013 by José Luis Cordeiro<http://www.kurzweilai.net/jose-luis-cordeiro>

[http://www.kurzweilai.net/images/Radical-Abundance.png]Eric Drexler, popularly known as "the founding father of nanotechnology," introduced the concept in his seminal 1981 paper in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

This paper established fundamental principles of molecular engineering and outlined development paths to advanced nanotechnologies.

He popularized the idea of nanotechnology in his 1986 book, Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology, where he introduced a broad audience to a fundamental technology objective: using machines that work at the molecular scale to structure matter from the bottom up.

He went on to continue his PhD thesis at MIT, under the guidance of AI-pioneer Marvin Minsky, and published it in a modified form as a book in 1992 as Nanosystems: Molecular Machinery, Manufacturing, and Computation<http://e-drexler.com/p/idx04/00/0411nanosystems.html>.

Drexler's new book, Radical Abundance: How a Revolution in Nanotechnology Will Change Civilization<http://www.kurzweilai.net/radical-abundance-how-a-revolution-in-nanotechnology-will-change-civilization>, tells the story of nanotechnology from its small beginnings, then moves quickly towards a big future, explaining what it is and what it is not, and enlightening about what we can do with it for the benefit of humanity.

In his pioneering 1986 book, Engines of Creation, he defined nanotechnology as a potential technology with these features: "manufacturing using machinery based on nanoscale devices, and products built with atomic precision."

In his 2013 sequel, Radical Abundance, Drexler expands on his prior thinking, corrects many of the misconceptions about nanotechnology, and dismisses fears of dystopian futures replete with malevolent nanobots and gray goo.

In 1986 he talked about nanotechnology as the engine of abundance, but now he talks about radical abundance:

Imagine what the world might be like if we were really good at making things — better things — cleanly, inexpensively, and on a global scale. … The global prospect would be, not scarcity, but unprecedented abundance — radical, transformative, and sustainable abundance. We would be able to produce radically more of what people want and at a radically lower cost — in every sense of the word, both economic and environmental.

What if industrial production as we know it can be changed beyond recognition? The consequences would change almost everything else, and this new industrial revolution is visible on the horizon. Imagine a world where the gadgets and goods that run our society are produced not in a far-flung supply chain of industrial facilities, but in compact, even desktop-scale machines.

Imagine replacing an enormous automobile factory and all of its multi-million dollar equipment with a garage-sized facility that can assemble cars from inexpensive, microscopic parts, with production times measured in minutes. Then imagine that the technologies that can make these visions real are emerging — under many names, behind the scenes, with a long road still ahead, yet moving surprisingly fast.

The new nanotech: atomically precise manufacturing

His new book clearly identifies nanotechnology with atomically precise manufacturing (APM). He shows that APM rests on well-understood scientific and engineering principles that will support large-scale, low-cost production of advanced products, enable solutions to seemingly intractable global problems, and facilitate rapid draw-down of atmospheric CO2 levels.

Drexler describes how APM will radically reduce materials and energy costs, since most future devices will be manufactured using very abundant and common elements like carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen and silicon, and at a very low cost of less than one dollar per kilogram. He argues that photovoltaic systems using nanotechnology will allow us to power human civilization using only 0.2% of the Earth's land surface, without using any more fossil fuels and helping to improve the environment.

Consider that a "one-gram platform built with advanced technologies could provide teraflops of computational power (and much more, in bursts), together with a million-terabyte data storage capacity and better-than-human sensors, all with a power demand comparable to that of cell phone on standby," he suggests.

He argues that new devices produced with APM will radically use less resources and energy, and will be radically more efficient and stronger. Instead of using milliwatts, future devices will use nanowatts of power. We will produce much more for much less, while preserving the environment and improving it.

Drexler makes many comparisons between the information revolution and what he now calls the "APM revolution." What the first did with bits, the second will do with atoms: "Image files today will be joined by product files tomorrow. Today one can produce an image of the Mona Lisa without being able to draw a good circle; tomorrow one will be able to produce a display screen without knowing how to manufacture a wire."

Civilization, he says, is advancing from a world of scarcity toward a world of abundance — indeed, radical abundance.

José Cordeiro is Director, Venezuela Node of The Millennium Project and Energy Advisor/Faculty, Singularity University