ABSTRACT
The vision of nanotechnology is at once simple yet sweeping in its impact. The quotation above is the opening statement of a brochure published by the U.S. National Science and Technology Council in 1999. This brochure, among other publications, signaled the start of a major initiative by the United States to shepherd the technological promise of nanotechnology into existence. Similar documents have emerged across the globe in at least 30 other countries, as governments and their scientists mobilize in the race to reap the benefits of what promises to be the next great technological revolution.
