Intelligent Agent

Unbounding the Future: The Nanotechnology Revolution by K. Eric Drexler and Chris Peterson with Gayle Pergamit (William Morrow, 1991, US$10 paperback).

A layperson's introduction to nanotechnology and its potential uses in medicine, clean manufacturing, and restoring the environment, as well as potential abuses of the technology. Includes scenarios and illustrations. An easier, faster read than Engines of Creation (1986); it was once reviewed as "the nanotechnology book to give your mom."

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Table of Contents 
Foreword by Stewart Brand
Preface
Authors' Note
 1 Looking Forward
 2 The Molecular World
 3 Bottom-Up Technology
 4 Paths, Pioneers, and Progress
 5 The Threshold of Nanotechnology
 6 Working with Nanotechnology
 7 The Spiral of Capability
 8 Providing the Basics, and More
 9 Restoring the Environment
10 Nanomedicine
11 Limits and Downsides
12 Safety, Accidents, and Abuse
13 Policy and Prospects
Afterword: Taking Action
Further Reading
Technical Bibliography
Glossary
Acknowledgments
Index