first Curator of Experiments, Connonas the Royal Society, the establishment of this organiof the history of science from the seventeenth centuryonwards, The orof the roval sout of a group of natural philosophers (later knownas" scientists")who began meeting in theOs in order to debate the new ideas of Francis baconThe Society met weekly to wexperiments and discuss what we would now call scientific topics Amon theme was how they could learn about the world through experimental investigationdemy became an indispensable part of the development of modern science befostering discussing among scientists, the Royal Academyin Europe Accomplished scientists served as Royal Academy Fellows and exchanged ideas both casually andformally through the publication of articles and findings These scholars, especially Francis Bacon, served ase for the justification of the new fact-gathering, experiment-based experimental methodwell as for the validation of "modern(17th century) science Moreover, the work they published throughcredibility for theand for science as a discipline For example, scholars suchRobert Boyle published significant scientific findings in its unofficial journal Philosophical Transactions(Dear, p 140) Other famous scientists that joined the society included Robert Boyle, Isaac Newton andVilliam Petty all of whom benefited from academic collaboration within the society and from increasedblicity generated by their published worksDedicated to the free exchange of scientific information, the Royal Society of London and later, itscounterparts thrott Europe such as The Hague and the Academy of Sciences in Paris- proved crucialto the discussion and design of modern science and the exental method Although the Royal Sowas a governmentally established body, it acted independently as a body dedicated to research and scientificdiscovery that is to say, to improving knowledge and integrating all kinds of scientific research intooherent system With such a central artery for scientific progress, scientists were able to more quickly andfiercely support and promote their new ideas about the world11
6 ConclusionThe defining feature of the scientific revolution lies in how much scientific thought changed during a periodof only a century, and in how quickly differing thoughts of different natural philosophers condensed to focohesive experimental method that chemists, biologists, and physicists can easily utilize today The modernexperimental method incorporates Francis Bacons focus on use of controlled experiments and inductivening, Descartes' focus on hypothesis, logic,n,Galileo's emphasis on incorporation of establishelaws from all disciplines(math, astronomy, chemistry, biology, physics) in coming to a conclusion througith each sve method strengthening the validityof the next Essentially, the scientific revolution occurred in one quick bound and the advances made fromthe 17th century onward appear as littlecoImparisonHowever onekeep in mind that although the greeks and the philosophers of the 17th centuryinvented and began to perfect the experimental method, their outcomes in their experiments were oftense they didn't follow their own advice Even philosophers like Francis Bacon, thepromoterfact-gathering and controlled experition failed at some point in time to control their experimentsreview or used too muchmistakesce/logic and too little mathematic proof/ext In shortlust learn from thees of the 17th century philosophers like Galileo who wrote sooquently about the necessity of a suscientific method but didn't exit, correctly or failed toecognize the importance of pursuing scientific progress not simply for theoretical excellence, but for how itimprove the human conditionThe lesson to take from the history of the scientific revolution is that the ideas of thel7th centuryphilosophers have the most impact in the context of the progress they made as an academic whole as singularentists themore prone to faulty logic and uncontrolled expeentific reasoning such as teleology continued to affect genius philosophers and scientists such as Descartesand Boyle, and today scientists are faced with the problem of intelligent design (teleology) being taught as311briefHistoryoftheRoyalSocietyofLondon:http://wwwroyalsocac,uk/pageasp?id-2176AvailableforfreeatConnexions
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTIONthe equivalent of peer-reviewed, substantiated evolutionary theory Overall, modern scientists remain just aspronto the same problems as the 17th century philosophetht consider looking toward thlegacy of the successes of the scientific revolution againstackward Medieval philosophy for guidance1161wAbout the Society The Royal Society 2005The Royal Society15N4GalileoGalileinaSa16Nov,2005
jpg8ReneDescartesFreeOnlineLibrarybyFarlex16Nov20059" Robert Boyle 15 No20050RobertHookennDb15Nov2005http://frazerriceedu/nanotechAvailableforfreeatConnexions
the field of weany involvement A second world war would completelyange this lack of initiative and interestScience the Government and World War IIWorld War II marked the beginning of a new era for American science as the emergence of"sciencepolicy" produced a significant role for science and technology in public affairs Long before WwII scientificquiry was nurtured almost, entirely by private patronage and philanthropic efforts and it was not untias reached that the government found itself in the necessity of funding and consequentcontrolling scientific practid research With the war experience science had proven itself indispensableto the government and a close partnership of some kind between the two wasto think about what large-scale scientific research meant for American society and democracy TheAmerican research system began to take shape as the nation moved from demobilization to reconstructionof the world economy to stable prosperity, and from Cold War tensions to the Korean War to protracted"One of our hopes is that after the war there will be full employment To reach that goal thelI creative and productive energies of the American people must be released To create moreJobs we must make new and better and cheaper products These products are founded on newprinciples and new conceptions which in turn result from basictific capital Moreonger depend upon Europeal Smith 70?The potential of science and the new frontierFAll quotes in this section are taken from Bush6The period immediately after World War Ii was one of boundless enthusiasm for thein the United States, New technologies had been essential to success in the war and both the governmentd public were optimistic aboutpotential during peacetime It was such that in November 1944-before theofficially over-President Franklin D roosevelt asked the director of the office of scientificResearch and Development, Vannevar Bush, to write a report, on how the rapid scientific progress seen duringwartime could be continued
Bush exemplified the idealistic view of science in his response eight monthslater-while the fight was ongoing in the PacificThe title of the director's document Science: The endless frontier was the first clue of the nature ofits content The second was a quote that introduces the report, taken from President Roosevelt's requestNew frontiers of the mind are before us, and if they are pioneered with the same vision, boldness,and drive with which we have waged this war we can create a fuller and more fruitful employmentBush supported the attitude that science will lead society down this path by citing the crucial role it playedin World War Il "In this war it has become clear beyond all doubt, that, scientific research is absolutelyan important point Penicillin prevented"incalculable suffer science-indeed, it was ongoing-this wasessential to national security with the war fresh in the public colsaved"count less lives Radar wasife Millions were employed in industries ae tell, lori against Nazi Germany Still, Bush realized scienceessential in winning the "battle of scientific techniquesoffered enticing potential in peaceful areashad given rise to a dramatic increase in quality ofnational concern of the time, he referred specifically to progress in agriculture, seted by scientific advancements Again calling attention to aatervention For example, with respect to the millionshe wrote, " Science made that possible Still, he explicitly stated that this entity was not aself-supporting solution-"Science, by itself, provides no panacea for individual, social, and economic ills'-butthat it is an essential part-without scientific progress no amount, of achievement in other directionshealth, prosperity, and security as a nation in the modern world In other words, the Directwas communicating the view that science was not a result of human ingenuity, brependent entitythat mustAvailableforfreeatConnexions
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTIONThis attitude contributed to Bushs emphasis on the importance of basic rech In order to takeadvantage of science, one must have"an understanding of nature and its laws"(provided by basic research)which can then be applied to practical applications, The Director noted that the primary goal of industrywas the development of new products, not new knowledge The radio was developed because of knowledgein electromagnetic radiation, which was discovered by an earlier group with unrelated intentionsort had established the premise that science was essential to national development, most notablyand medicine In addition, basic research was necessary for sustained scientific advancementBush proposed measures to ensure that progress continued and supported them by affirming thePresident's view that science would lead the nation closer to a utopia In the Director s own wordsAdvances in science when put to practical use mean more jobs, higher wages, shorter hours,more abundant crops, more leisure for recreation, for study, for learning how to live without thedeadening drudgery which has been the burden of theill promote conservation of our limited national resources, and will amon orence will also bring higher standards of living, will lead to the pre means of defenseBush clearly perceived science as a key that would solve countless ills Again, science was a separate entityall the answers and "the limiting factor is a human one His argument was that the governmentsociety all available means to pursntific research and unlock the endless potential availablee that basic research especially needed continuous federal support because it was not economicallyby itself, Only then could technological advances be sustained22 General Recommendations Regarding Science PolicyIn his letter, Science: The Endless Frontier, Vannevar Bush applauded the government's support of directlyuseful, applied research However, he also memorably stated that "we have been living off our fat withrespect to research, maintaining that immediately applicable studies were not enough, and that the nationneeded to redefine its public pursuit of scientific knowledge with an emphasis on continued basic research
Inaddition to increased public funding for such research, Bush called for the raising of standards for recruitmentof scientific personnel, as it was not, to his view, competing adequately with industry for scientific expertiseClarification of Tax and Patent lawsIndustrial research was negatively affected by ambiguity of income tax laws with regard to deductions forresearch expenses; it was therefore suggested that the legislation be clarified to make clear the advantagesresearch and development for industry Bush also pointed out the opacity of patent law, and its similarlyetrimental effect on industrial researchScience Advisory BoardBush recognized the existing governmental scientific bureaus and departments as basically fixed, buthe emphasized a need for an impartial liaison between the legislative and executive branches and thesedepartments In his letter, this idea took the form of a"Science Advisory Board"""composed of disinterestedscientists who have no connection with the affairs of any Government agencyScholarships and a National Science ReserveIn the post-World War II era, most of a generation of student-aged men hadom their studiesor work to serve in the military This created a gap in the pure science persolto a steep dropout rate in higher education Bush noted that college training wconomic classes, but talent was not He advocated national and state-fundesllowshifor science study, and further suggested that in return, these people should answer the governs call intimes of need as part of a National Science Reserve2 3 Bush's Vision of the national science foundation**Basic ideasAvailableforfreeatConnexions
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION2 4 Realization of the National science foundationIn the case of the National Science Foundation, which was to implement the recordations for basicesearch support made in the Bush and Steelman Reports, controversy raged over the relation of the proposedagency to the presidency, Should it be headed by an independent group of scientist-commissioners or byan administrator appointed by the President? Five years later the NsF finally emerged in 1950 with apresidentially appointedor and a board of part-time scientists with veto-power over awarding of researchants Smith, 611 Byarly 1960s Congress had taken the full plunge into science policy rewriting theNSFs charter, creatingIH institutes, and unsuccessfully attempting to establishCurrently operating with an annual brfor approximately 20 percent of all federally supported basic research conducted by Amfields such as mathematics, computer science and the social sciences, NSF is the masource of federal fundingNSF leadership has evolved to be comprised of two major components: a director who oversees NSF staffand management responsible for program creation and administration, merit review, planning, budget, andday-to-day operations; and a 24-member National Science Board(NSB) of eminent individuals that meetssix times a year to establish the overall policies of the foundation, The director and all Board membersar terms Theall, including the NF deputy directorinted by the president of theUnited States and confirmed by the uS Senate Presently the nsf has a total workforce of about 1700 atits headquarters in Arlington, VA
This includes approximately 1200 career employees, 150 scientists fromresearch institutions on temporarily employed, and approximately 200 contract workersNSF operates from the bottom up, keeping close track of research around the United Statesd the world, maintaining constant contact with the researchty to identify ever-movinghorizons of inquiry, monitoring which areas are most likely to result in spectacular progress andchoosing the most promising people to conduct the research National Science Foundation 613 The Early History of NanotechnologyNOTE:This module was developed as part of a Rice University Class called"NanotechContent, and Contexts initially funded by the National Science Foundation under grantEEC-0407237 It was conceived, rese
arched, written and edited by students in the Fall 2005of the class, and reviewed by participating professors131 IntroductionNanotechnology is an essentially modern scientific field that is constantly evolving as commerciaemic interest, continues to increase and as new research is presented to the scientific communityfieldsplest roots can be traced albeit arguably, to 1959 but its primary development occurred in both theeighties and the early nineties In addition to specific scientific achievements such as the invention of theSTM, this early history is most importantly reflected in the initial vision of molecular manufacturingoutlined in three important works Overall, an underst anding of development and the criticism of this visionis integral for comprehending the realities and potential of nanotechnology todayonlineat32 Richard Feynman: Theres Plenty of Room at theBottom, 1959Richard Feynman, From WikipediaBut I am not afraid to consider the final question as to whether, ultimately-in the great future-we caarrange the atoms the way we want; the very atoms, all the way down! - Richard Feynman, There's Plentyof room at the bottomThe first time the idea of nanotechnology was introduced was in 1959, when Richard Feynman, a physicistat Caltech, gave a talk called"There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom "Though he never explicitly mentionednanotechnology, Feynman suggested that it will eventually be possible to precisely manipulate atoms andmoleculesn more radical proposition, he thought that, in principle, it was possiblecreate"nano-scale"machines, through a cascade of billions of factories According to the physicistthese factories would beessively smaller scaled versions of machine hands and tools He proposedthat these tiny machine shops"would then eventually be able to create billions of tinier factories 1 Inthese speculations, he also suggested that there are various factors, which uniquely affect the nano-scaleevel
Specifically, heed that as the scale got smaller and smaller, gravity would become moregligible, while both Van Der Waals attraction and surface tension would become very important In theend, Feynmans talk has been viewed as the first academic talk that dealt with a main tenet of nanotechnologythe direct manipulation of individual atoms(molecular manufacturing )-[2The revolutionary Feynman vision launched the global nanotechnology race -Eric DrexlerHence, long before STMs and atomic force microscopes were invented Feynman proposed these revoluWhttp://enwikipediaorg/wiki/richardFeynmanAvailableforfreeatConnexions
Nanotechnology: Content and ContextCollection editorsChristopher KeltJohn s hutchinsonAuthorsBlake brogueSalil desaiChristopher KeltyMelissa dominguezJo KentDevon FanfairSean MccuddenMartha FarnsworthBo QiLuca sabbatoldenMcKenzie smithOnline
org/content/col10418/11/>CONNEⅩIoNSce University, Houston, Texas
tion is copyrighted by Christopher Kelty, It is licensed unthe Creative Commons Attributlicense(http://creativecommonsorg/licenses/by/2
0/)Collection structure revised: May 9 200PDF generated: October 26, 2012For copyright and attribution information for the modules contained in this collection,
able of contents1 Introduction11 The Impact of the Scientific Revolution: A Brief History of the ExperimentalMethod in the 17th Centurynt-Funded scienenevar Bush and the National Science Founda-63 The Early History of Nanotechnology2 Some basic science for Nano21 Beyond Optical Microscopy2 2 Brownian motion3 Some basic social issues in nano3
1 The Environmental Impact of the Manufacturing of Semiconductors32 Patent or perishof Nanotechnology41 Buckyballs: Their history and discovery4 2 Nanand the Development of Molecular ManufacturingBibliographyAttributions
1VAvailableforfreeatConnexions
org/104
Chapter 1ntroduction11 The Impact of the Scientific Revolution: A Brief History of theExperimental Method in the 17th CenturyAmes Jo Kent Amneet Gulati Adam purteeFaculty Sponsor: Christopher Kelty, Rice University Department of AnthropologyThe Impact, of the Scientific Revolution: A Brief History of the Experimental Method in the 17th CenturyThe American statesman Adlai stevenson once said America"can chart our future clearly and wiselonly when we know the path which has led to the present This is clearly true in the field of scienced research Today, as scientists experiment with nanotechnology and venture into a wide variety of newscientific disciplines, it remains important to take a look back to the origins of scientific discovery andunderstand some of the events that have shaped the world of science, and, more importantly, to realize howscience behaves1 IntroductionThe beginning of the seventeenth century is known as the "scientific revolution" for the drastic changesevidenced in the European approach to science during that period The word"revolution"connotes a periodof turmoil and social upheaval where ideas about the world change severely and a completcademic thought is ushered in This term, therefore, describes quite accurately what took place in theentific community following the sixteenth century
During the scientific revolution, medieval scientificphilosophy was abandoned in favor of the new methods proposed by Bacon, Galileo, Descartes, and Newton;e importance of experimentation to the scientific method was reaffirmed: the importance of God to scienceas for the most part, invalidated, and the pursuit of science itself (rather than philosophy gained validity onn terms The change to the medieval idea of science occurred for four reasons:(1) seventeenth centuryscientists and philosophers were able to collaborate with members of the mathematical and astronomicalties to effect advances in all fields; (2)scientists realized the inadequacy of medieval experimentmethods fowork and so felt the need to devise new methods(some of whichtoday);(3academics had access to a legacy of European, Greek, and Middle Eastern scientific philosophy they coulduse as a starting point (either by disproving or building on the theorems); and(4)groups like the BritishRoyal Society helped validate science as a field by providing an outlet for the publication of scientists workTheot immediate, nor did they directly create the experimental method used today, butthey did represent a step toward Enlightenment, thinking(with an emphasis on reason )that, was revolutionaryfor the time Assessment of the state of science before the scientific revolution examination of the differenin the experimental methods utilized by different "scientists"during the seventeenth century, and exploraticThiscontentisavailableonlineatAvailableforfreeatConnexions
deductive reasoning (the method of using general principles to explain a specific instance, where the partiits relation to a"universal truth") Moreover, like Roger Bacon of the3th century Francis baconat the use of empiricism alone is insufficient, and thus emphasized thenecessity of fact-gathering as a first step in the scientific method, which could then be followed by carefullyrecorded and controlled (unbiased)experimentation Bacon largely differed from his sixteenth century corparts in his insistence that experimentation should not be conducted to simply" see what happens" butas a way of answering specific questions " Moreover, he believed, as did many of his contemporaries, that amain purpose of science was the betterment of hsociety and that experimentation should be applied tohard, real situations rather than to Aristotelian abstract ideas His experimental method of fact-gatheringlargely influenced advances in chemistry and biology through the 18th centurGalileo Galilei(1564-1642): Galileo's experimental method contrasted with that of Bacon in that hebelieved that the purpose of experimentation should not simply beeliminating ignorance, but aof testing a theory and of testing thes of the very"testing methodGalileo argued that phenomena should be interpreted mechanically, meaning that because every phenomenonresults from a combination of the most basic phenomena and universal axioms, if one applies the many proventheorems to the larger phenomenon, one can accurately explain why a certain phenomenon occurs the wayit does In other words, he argued that "an explanation of a scientific probtruly begun when it isreduced to its basic tef matter and motion because only the most basic eventsbecause ofe can demonstrate the concept ofacceleration" in the laboratoslanted board, but to fullyexplain the idea using Galileo's reasoning, one would have to utilize the conceptsof many different disciplines: the physics-based concepts of time and distance, the idea of gravity, force, andass, or even the chemical composition of the element that is accelerating, all of which must be individuallybroken down to their smallest elements in order for a scientist to fully understand the item as a whole Thismechanic"or"systemic"approach, while necessitating a mixture of elements from different disciplines, alsopartially removed the burden of fact-gathering emphasized by Bacon In other words, through Galileosmethod, one would not observe the phenomenon as a whole, but rather as a construct or system of manyxisting principles that must be tested together, and so gathering facts about the perforin one situation may not truly lead toccur in a perfect, circumstance, when all laws of matter and motion come into play Galileo's abstractionof everything concerning the phenomenon except the universal element(e g
matter or motion) contrastedreatly with Bacon's inductive reasoning, but also influenced the work of Descartes, who would later emphaze the importance of simplification of phenomena in mathematical terms, Galileos experimental methodided advances in chemistry and biology by allowing biologists to explain the work of a muscle or any bodfunction using existing ideas of motion, matter, energy, and other basic principleRene Descartes(1596-1650): Descartes disagreed with Galileo's and Bacons experimental methods be-cause he believed that one could only"(1)Accept, nothing as true that is not self-evident(2)Divide problems into their simplest parts (3Solve problems by proceeding from simple to complex (4)Recheck the reasoning "That these 4 laws ofreasoning"followed from Descartes' ideas on mathematics(he invented derivative and integral calculus inorder to better explain natural law gives the impression that Descartes, like many 17th century philosophersere using advances in disciplines outside philosophy ande to enrich scientific theory Additionally,the laws set forth by Descartes promote the idea that he trusted only the fruits of hlogic, not theresults of physical experimentation, because he believed that humans can only definitely know that"ththink therefore they are Thus, according to Descartes's logict doubt, whaterceive physically(physical experimentation is imperfect) because our bodies are external to the mind (our onltruth, as given by God)Even though Descartes denounced Baconian reasoning and medieval empiricismas shallow and imperfect, Descartes did believe that conclusions could43Hl,p166,16ac uh edu/gbrown/philosophers/leibniz/ BritannicaPages/Descartes/Descartes htmlshAll, p 178AvailableforfreeatConnexions
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTIONtrifugal system, in which one could work outwards from the certainty of existence of mind and God tofind universal truths or laws that could be detected by reason 'It was to this aim that Descartes pennedthe above" 4 laws of reasoning'-to eliminate unnecessary pollution of almost mathematically exact humanRobert Boyle(1627-1691)Boyle is an interesting case among the 17th century natural philosophers, in that he continued to use me-dieval teleology as well as 17th century Galilean mechanism and Baconian induction to explain events eough he made progress in the field of chemistry through Baconian experimentation(fact-finding followedby controlled experimentation), he remained drawn to teleological explanations for scientific phenomenaature, phenomena mustrtain purpose within that established order Boyle used this ideaexplanation for how the "geometrical arrangement of the atoms defined the chemical characteristics ofthe substance Overall, Boyle's attachment to teleology was not so strange in the 17th centuryDescartes'appeal to a higher being as the sorection in logicHooke(1635-1703Hooke, the Royal Society's first Curator of Experiments from 1662-1677, considered sciencetrast, to medieval thought, where science and philosophy were done folknowledge's sake alone and ideas were tested just to see if it could be done An experimentalist who followedthe Baconian tradition, Hooke agreed with Bacons idea that "history of nature and the arts" was the basisof science He was also a leader in publicizing microscopy(not discovering, it had been discovered 30 yearsprior to his MicrographSir Isaac Newton(1643-1747)Newton invented a method that approached science systematically He composed a set of four rules forcientific reasoning Stated in the Principia, Newton's four way framework was: (1)Admit no more causesof natural things such as are both true and sufficient to explain their appearances,(2)Theffects must be assigned to the sames,(3) Qualities of bodies are to be esteemed as universal, and (4Propositions deduced from observation of phenomena should be viewed as accurate until other phenomenacontradict them "IHis analytical method was a critical improvementabstract approaf Aristotle, mostly behis laws lent themselves well to experimentation with mathematical physicshose conclusions"could then be confirmed by direct observation Newton also refined Galileo's experimental method by creating the contemporary" compositional method of exntation' that consisted inmaking experiments and observations, followed by inducted conclusions that, could only be overturned bythe realization of other, more substantiated truths Essentially, through his physical and mathematicalapproach to experimental design, Newton established a clear distinction bet ween"natural philosophy andphysicalAll of these natural philosophers built upon the work of their contemporaries, and this collaboratiecame even simpler with the establishment of professional societies for scientists that published journalsand provided forums for scientific discussion The next section discusses the impact ofespecially the British Royal Society1
15 The Role of the Royal Societywith the development of science as a discipline independent from philosophy, organizations of scholegan to emerge as centers of thought and intellectual exchange Arguablyst influential ofas the Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Know ledgeofficial websiteoyalsocacuk/page asp?id=-2176), which was established in 1660 witrt hooke as thewrod beavon clara net/leonardo htm9setoffourruleshttp://scienceworldwolframcom/biography/newtonhtml(olbid websiteahttp://wwwroyalsocacuk/pageasp?id=2176AvailableforfreeatConnexions