ABSTRACT
Nanotechnology has been hailed as both the harbinger of the third industrial revolution and as a potentially disruptive or transformative technology. There are a plethora of assertions that increasingly highlight either the possible benefits that nanotechnologies promise or, conversely, draw attention to possible risks (NSF 2001, 2003). 1 The nature of some of these competing claims is well summarized by Gaskell et al (2005, p82).
With the ability to engineer and control systems at the nanometric scale, the enthusiasts predict transformative opportunities in areas as diverse as the environment, medical practice, electronics and novel materials. For the critics, the quality of life will be threatened by out-of-control self replicating systems, miniaturized weapons of mass destruction, invisible surveillance techniques and unknown impacts of nanotubes – scenarios depicted in Crichton’s latest novel Prey.
