Nanotechnology: Risk, Ethics and Law

Description

Nanotechnology - technology at the molecular level - is held out by many as the Holy Grail for creating a trillion dollar economy and solving problems from curing cancer to reprocessing waste into products and building superfast computers. Yet, as with GMOs, many view nanotech as a high risk genie in a bottle that once uncorked has the potential to cause unpredictable, perhaps irreversible, environmental and public health disasters. With the race to bring products to market, there is pressing need to take stock of the situation and to have a full public debate about this new technological frontier. Including contributions by renowned figures such as Roland Clift, K. Eric Drexler and Arpad Pusztai, this is the first global overview of the state of nanotech and society in Europe, the USA, Japan and Canada, examining the ethics, the environmental and public health risks, and the governance and regulation of this most promising, and potentially most dangerous, of all technologies.

Geoffrey Hunt is Professor of Ethics at the University of Surrey, UK and Professional Fellow of the Institute of Nanotechnology. Michael Mehta is Professor of Sociology and Chair of the Sociology of Biotechnology Program at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada.

'This valuable collection provides many insights into nanotechnology's impacts.' - Chris Phoenix, Director of Research, Center for Responsible Nanotechnology 'This edited volume provides an overview of the state of nanotech and society in Europe, the USA, Japan, and Canada, examining the ethics, the environmental and public health risks, and the governance and regulation of this enabling technology.' - Journal of Consumer Policy 'The book provides much food for thought as nanotechnology becomes a part of everyday life.' - M. Fosmire, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA 'A much-needed general introduction to the social, safety, and ethical aspects of nanotechnology... concise, cogent, and well documented.' Choice 'This is a good general text book providing good quality analysis of the very broad range of nanotechnology topics.' Jim McLaughlin, Journal of Environmental Health Research