Nanoscience is not physics, chemistry, engineering or
biology. It is all of them, and it is time for a text
that integrates the disciplines. This is such a text,
aimed at advanced undergraduates and beginning graduate
students in the sciences. The consequences of smallness
and quantum behaviour are well known and described
Richard Feynman's visionary essay 'There's Plenty of
Room at the Bottom' (which is reproduced in this book).
Another, critical, but thus far neglected, aspect of
nanoscience is the complexity of nanostructures.
Hundreds, thousands or hundreds of thousands of atoms
make up systems that are complex enough to show what is
fashionably called 'emergent behaviour'. Quite new
phenomena arise from rare configurations of the system.
Examples are the Kramer's theory of reactions (Chapter
3), the Marcus theory of electron transfer (Chapter 8),
and enzyme catalysis, molecular motors, and fluctuations
in gene expression and splicing, all covered in the
final Chapter on Nanobiology. The book is divided into
three parts.Part I (The Basics) is a self-contained
introduction to quantum mechanics, statistical mechanics
and chemical kinetics, calling on no more than basic
college calculus. A conceptual approach and an array of
examples and conceptual problems will allow even those
without the mathematical tools to grasp much of what is
important. Part II (The Tools) covers microscopy, single
molecule manipulation and measurement, nanofabrication
and self-assembly. Part III (Applications) covers
electrons in nanostructures, molecular electronics,
nano-materials and nanobiology. Each chapter starts with
a survey of the required basics, but ends by making
contact with current research literature. |
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