Nanoscience, nanoengineering, and nanotechnology involve the study, design, and manipulation of natural phenomena, artificial products, and technological processes at the nanometer level. Because a nanometer is one-billionth of a meter (10⁻⁹ meter), this effectively means research, design, and operations at the atomic and molecular levels. Nanoethics aims to promote critical ethical reflection in this relatively new field. It complements other efforts to explore the moral dimensions of the scientific and technological transformations in human action such as nuclear ethics (dealing with very large scale power generation and its challenges), biomedical ethics (focusing on the bio-scientific and bio-technological aspects of medicine), and computer ethics (emphasizing the technological redefinition and processing of information).

Background and Prospects

Early inspiration and vision for the pursuit of nanoscience and nanotechnology is widely credited to physicist Richard P. Feynman's (1918–1988) talk "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom" at the 1959 annual meeting of the American Physical...