TY - JOUR
T1 - A map of the nanoworld
T2 - Sizing up the science, politics, and business of the infinitesimal
AU - Munshi, Debashish
AU - Kurian, Priya
AU - Bartlett, Robert V.
AU - Lakhtakia, Akhlesh
N1 - Funding Information:
Research at universities is driven by funding from government agencies as well as from industries. This funding was responsible for the spectacular growth of US universities during and after the Second World War, and the lessons learnt therefrom are now being used by technoscientific managers as well as policymakers in Europe, Japan, China, and India. Furthermore, industrial research is normally predicated on financial success. In this environment, not surprisingly, entrepreneurial technoscientists––whether at universities, industries, or government agencies––have learnt to align their research efforts with the latest terms in vogue. Although most researchers are motivated by funding possibilities for their research areas, not a small percentage of them may have hopes of monetary benefits from commercialization of their research products.
Funding Information:
The authors thank the editor and two anonymous referees for their incisive comments which helped improve this paper. They also thank the Waikato Management School and the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences of the University of Waikato for grants to support this collaborative research. In addition, Munshi and Kurian acknowledge the Indian Institute of Technology (Madras) and the Chennai Mathematical Institute for the logistical support extended to them during part of their sabbatical in 2005-6; and Lakhtakia thanks Rocky Rawstern and Judith Light Feather for conversations on nanotechnology and our future, and Ronald Kostoff for a preprint of Ref. [26] .
PY - 2007/5
Y1 - 2007/5
N2 - Mapping out the eight main nodes of nanotechnology discourse that have emerged in the past decade, we explore how various scientific, social, and ethical islands of discussion have developed, been recognized, and are being continually renegotiated. We do so by (1) identifying the ways in which scientists, policy makers, entrepreneurs, educators, and environmental groups draw boundaries on issues relating to nanotechnology; (2) describing concisely the perspectives from which these boundaries are drawn; and (3) exploring how boundaries on nanotechnology are marked and negotiated through contestations of power among various nodes of nanotechnology discourse.
AB - Mapping out the eight main nodes of nanotechnology discourse that have emerged in the past decade, we explore how various scientific, social, and ethical islands of discussion have developed, been recognized, and are being continually renegotiated. We do so by (1) identifying the ways in which scientists, policy makers, entrepreneurs, educators, and environmental groups draw boundaries on issues relating to nanotechnology; (2) describing concisely the perspectives from which these boundaries are drawn; and (3) exploring how boundaries on nanotechnology are marked and negotiated through contestations of power among various nodes of nanotechnology discourse.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.futures.2006.08.003
DO - 10.1016/j.futures.2006.08.003
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:33846600887
SN - 0016-3287
VL - 39
SP - 432
EP - 452
JO - Futures
JF - Futures
IS - 4
ER -