ABSTRACT
Traditional knowledge systems, in particular those of indigenous societies with hunter-gatherer or horticultural economies, have made a surprising impact on many disciplines surrounding science and technology. The pharmaceutical industry, for example, has long used “ethnobotany”—the study of indigenous utilization of plants-to help discover biologically active molecules. This is not entirely counterintuitive; we can imagine many centuries in which an exhaustive trial-and-error search by indigenous communities resulted in the discovery of medically useful preparations. Such
CONTENTS
3.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................45 3.2 Connections to Nanotechnology in the Traditional Knowledge
of Ancient State Societies ............................................................................ 47 3.2.1 Case study: Wootz and Damascus Steel ....................................... 47 3.2.2 Case Study: Maya Blue Pigment .................................................... 49
3.3 Connections to Nanotechnology in the Traditional Knowledge of Nonstate Indigenous Societies ..............................................................50 3.3.1 Case Study: The Obsidian Blade ....................................................50 3.3.2 Case Study: Piezoelectricity ........................................................... 51
3.4 A Whole World of Scienti˜c Knowledge ..................................................53 3.5 Connections to Nanotechnology in Traditional Knowledge
at the Macroscale..........................................................................................54 3.6 Applications of Traditional Knowledge to Nanoscale Science
Education ......................................................................................................56 3.7 Applications of Traditional Knowledge to Intellectual Property
Rights of Nanotechnology .......................................................................... 59 3.8 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 62 References ...............................................................................................................63 Endnotes .................................................................................................................66
common-sense assumptions, however, leave us unprepared to appreciate the aspects of indigenous knowledge that go beyond mere accident, nor do they prepare us for indigenous practices in nonorganic arenas. In this essay I present case studies in which indigenous knowledge has produced parallels to particular artifacts or processes in the high-tech world of nanoscience. Not only do these cases provide evidence that sophisticated traditional knowledge can extend beyond the organic world, but they also help us understand the contributions of indigenous practices in contemporary science and technology.
