The Dance of Molecules: How Nanotechnology
Is Changing Our Lives
by Ted Sargent
Thunder’s Mouth Press 2006,
304 pps.
What are the possibilities and limitations
of nanotechnology? Already the U.S. military
is investigating “smart suits”
for its soldiers, uniforms that can absorb
bullets, compress wounds, provide camouflage
and protect the wearer from biological
poisons. Medical researchers are developing
chips to detect and destroy cancer at
the cellular level, and electrical engineers
are exploring a supercharged Internet
based entirely upon light. In the near
future, we may be able to grow human organs
to replace failing livers, hearts and
kidneys.
All of these innovations are explored
in Ted Sargent’s “The Dance
of Molecules,” an exuberant paean
to nanotechnology. Sargent points out
that nanotechnology is not new—nature
has for eternity been organizing life
from the atomic and molecular level on
up, creating “limitless variety,
beauty, form and purpose” based
on a set of simple but powerful rules.
Now scientists and engineers are seeking
to work within this set of rules to coax
matter into new forms. And this is the
dance of which Sargent writes, “a
choreographed [ballet] among atoms and
molecules to achieve a desired effect.”
Throughout his book, Sargent extols the
advances of this hot new science, detailing
present and future applications, as well
as the ethical and environmental challenges
that lie ahead. After an overview of developments
from the 1980s onward, the book is divided
into three sections, focusing on the fields
of health, the environment and information
systems. The sections are further divided
into chapters that examine various aspects
of these topics. In the health section,
for example, we learn of the nanotechnological
progress in diagnosing, healing and growing
new body parts.
Sargent is particularly impassioned when
discussing the environment, stressing
the need for America to break its dependency
on fossil fuels and shift to solar power.
“If we could cover one-tenth of
1 percent of the Earth’s surface
with solar cells,” he proclaims,
“we could satisfy our energy needs
completely using this clean source of
energy alone.”
The efforts of other researchers are
given generous exposure throughout this
text—among many others, Rice University’s
Vicki Colvin’s investigations into
the toxicity of nanomaterials, University
of Toronto’s Sajeev John’s
exploration of photonic crystals and Northwestern
University’s Sam Stupp’s successes
with cell scaffold building. Sargent is
also attentive to the moral complexities
of technological advances. Once we have
the capacity to engineer bone, muscle
and cartilage, will athletes, models and
others be tempted to “upgrade”
their bodies? Ethically, when will we
feel we’ve gone too far, he asks.
Similarly, in writing about the environment,
Sargent cautions nanotechnologists to
remain alert to the potential harm of
their materials, developing ways to systematically
monitor toxicities.
Hailed as one of the world’s top
young innovators by MIT’s Technology
Review in 2003, Sargent is well qualified
to write about the nano-world. A professor
at University of Toronto’s department
of electrical and computer engineering,
Sargent is currently a visiting researcher
at MIT’s Microphotonics Center.
In 2005, he was listed in the Scientific
American 50 for his breakthrough with
paintable solar cells that absorb infrared
light, a technology that may dramatically
improve the productivity of solar cells.
One of the pleasures of “Dance
of Molecules” is its eloquent, lively
and sometimes whimsical prose, which enables
the reader to grasp concepts with ease.
Writing of stem cells, for example, Sargent
compares them to college freshmen who
have not yet declared a major, not yet
“specializing” in kidney function,
bone formation or sight.
Sargent believes that all of us bear
responsibility both in ensuring and in
guarding the future of nanotechnology.
It is incumbent upon scientific and engineering
innovators to convey the interest and
potential of their work, he says. And
it is essential for nations to pay attention
and take action. Finally, he urges everyone
to “thrust themselves into debates
over science and engineering—and
our growing mastery over our natural world
and physical fate—with the passion
we owe to our future.” A readable
and engaging book, “Dance of Molecules”
writes very large the future of the very
small.
Robin Tatu is a freelance writer based
in Washington, D.C.
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