Page 11 - Science at the nanoscale

RPS: PSP0007 - Science-at-Nanoscale
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June 9, 2009
Chapter One
Introduction and Historical
Perspective
THE DEVELOPMENT OF NANOSCALE SCIENCE
1.1
The prefix nano comes from the Greek word for dwarf, and hence
nanoscience (the commonly used term nowadays for nanoscale
science) deals with the study of atoms, molecules and nanoscale
particles, in a world that is measured in nanometres (billionths of
−9
, see Section 1.2). The development of nanoscience
a metre or 10
can be traced to the time of the Greeks and Democritus in 5th cen-
tury B.C., when people thought that matter could be broken down
to an indestructible basic component of matter, which scientists
now call atoms. Scientists have since discovered the whole peri-
odic table of different atoms (elements, see Section 4.1) along with
their many isotopes. The 20th century A.D. saw the birth of nuclear
and particle physics that brought the discoveries of sub-atomic par-
ticles, entities that are even smaller than atoms, including quarks,
leptons, etc. But these are well below the nanometre length scale
and therefore not included in the history of nanoscale science and ch01
technology.
The beginnings and developments of nanotechnology, the
application of nanoscience, are unclear. The first nanotechno-
logists may have been medieval glass workers using medieval
forges, although the glaziers naturally did not understand why
what they did to gold made so many different colours. The
process of nanofabrication, specifically in the production of gold
nanodots, was used by Victorian and medieval churches which
Science at the Nanoscale: An Introductory Textbook
by Chin Wee Shong, Sow Chorng Haur & Andrew T S Wee
Copyright c
2010 by Pan Stanford Publishing Pte Ltd
www.panstanford.com
978-981-4241-03-8