bcc@apple.com (BC Crandall) (03/14/91)
[This is a reposting; note the new (later) deadlines. --JoSH]
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Nanotechnology
and the Culture of Abundance
Applied nanotechnology (the mechanical capability to engineer matter
at the molecular level) will change every aspects of life as we know
it. But all such change will come from specific products, designed
and created for particular purposes.
--> Call for Papers <--
Contributions are solicited for a collection of papers aimed at the
popular science market that describe products and applications that
molecular-scale engineering will make possible. Describe your
vision of a particular nanotechnological device, how it works, and
how it will change our world. This book is intended for intelligent
individuals who may not be familiar with nanotechnology, but could
grasp the concept from a few paragraphs.
Potential contributors are asked to submit an abstract of 300-600
words. Abstracts will be judged as to (1) clarity of presentation,
(2) technical accuracy and completeness, (3) scale of potential
cultural impact, and (4) wow factor. Keep it real, but make it
flashy.
Contributors with the most promising abstracts will be asked to
develop papers of 3-8,000 words. Artwork is encouraged. The
collected papers will be published under the title: Nanotechnology
and the Culture of Abundance.
Abstracts and papers will be reviewed by:
Eric Drexler The Foresight Institute
David Forrest MIT
Ted Kaehler Apple Corporation
Ralph Merkle Xerox PARC
Jeffrey Soreff IBM
While writing abstracts and papers, keep in mind the following
suggestions:
1. Products should be items that people already want. Consider
food, housing, transportation, education, health care, energy, the
environment, and, perhaps most important, entertainment.
2. Products should incorporate simple and effective safe guards.
Products should not appear able to "get loose" or present any
environmental dangers. Safety factors should be intrinsic and
obvious without undue explanation. Products should be clearly
limited to doing only what they are designed to do.
3. Products should be a potential reality within the next 50 years.
Include an approximate time of arrival based on your estimate of
technology's trajectory. Highlight any particularly noteworthy
hurdles that must be overcome or enabling technologies that must be
in place.
>>> New Dates <<<
Abstracts due: 1 May 1991
Notification of acceptance: 6 June 1991
Papers due: 1 August 1991
Send abstracts, including author's name, mailing address (email
address if available), telephone and fax numbers, to BC Crandall,
Nanotechnology Project, PO Box 2178, Sausalito, CA 94965 (or email:
bcc@well.sf.ca.us).