ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to provide an overview and general description of an atlas of nanomaterials, created and categorized by means of the nanomaterials genome (NMG). The Federal Government of the United States used the term materials genome in its report “Materials Genome Initiative for Global Competitiveness”. The working principle of the NMG that endows it with scientific assets beyond a nanomaterials registry can be expressed in a type of Venn scheme. The inherent imperfection of nanomaterial building blocks with respect to variations in their size, shape, and surface will complicate the exactitude of the data base and limit its usefulness until synthetic methods have improved to the point that the perfection of nanomaterials begins to approach that of molecules. Mapping the NMG and responsibly exploiting its attributes are core processes of building a “human ecosystem”, one that respects “The Human Element,” as one popular Dow Chemical advertisement wisely heralds.
