JJD.MDC@OFFICE-1.ARPA.UUCP (06/25/87)
Sorry I missed the NPR report on K. Eric Drexler and _Engines of Creation_. Here's some background: The book _Engines of Creation_ was publixhed by Anchor Press / Doubleday in 1986. The excited foreword is by Marvin Minsky. I know from the copy that I just checked out that Drexler discusses AI in the book, but I am not sure what his vantage point is. At minimum, of course, is the potential of nanotechnology as a way to build much denser hardware. I suspect that Drexler also at least touches on the idea of this enabling a critical mass and consciousness. This will come later. It's a good read. The book was excerpted in the Spring 1987 issue of _Whole Earth Review_. This article is provocative and has some good conceptual illustrations. The cover bio of Drexler identifies him as a "Research Affiliate at the MIT Space Systems Laboratory." He is pictured with his back to the camera, staring at an imposing and eclectic pile of books and a terminal. I first encountered Drexler in the pages of the Summer 1976 issue of _CoEvolution Quarterly_ (ancestor of _Whole Earth Review_). The theme of that issue (later extended as a book) was Gerard O'Neill's concept of space colonization and industrialization. Drexler was a very articulate advocate who was actually doing something about it. He was a graduate student at the time, and had built a six-foot-long track that could electromagnetically launch a bucket of water into a wall at 80 miles per hour. It was a demonstration of the feasibility of a mass driver to be built on the moon and to launch 10 kilogram sacks of material to colony construction sites. He contributed to the book that came from the initial article, demolishing his opponents with gleeful arrogance (apparently since moderated, perhaps by exposure to audiences in the last few years). I suspect that Drexler has a general interest in big fixes in answer to contemporary dilemmas, motivating his fascination with both space industrialization and with nanotechnology. More specifically, his earlier interest in space has probably driven his interest in nanotechnology. Nanotechnology promises to revolutionize both the ways things are made, and their resulting performance characteristics. It makes vast systems of capital-intensive, high-performance technology seems more approachable. I leave further analysis to the next century's graduate theses re: contemporary intellectual history.