'Plenty of room' - fifty years after the Feynman lecture

摘要

' There's plenty of room at the bottom' was a lecture delivered in 1959 by Richard Feynman. Over a period of time, this lecture came to be looked upon as the starting point of nanoscience. In the talk, Feynman explored seemingly simple and elegant possibilities of working at the atomic scale possibilities that would have startling results. He touched upon ideas such as miniature writing, seeing and moving atoms, the prospect of designing molecules one atom at a time and the challenges involved in developing miniature machines. Developments in electron microscopy were taking place even before Feynman's lecture. In fact, atoms were seen for the first time in 1955 - four years before 'Plenty of room'. Remarkable advances have been made on the nanoscale, such as developments in lithography, the discovery of fullerenes and improvements in microscopy that have made it possible to see, name and move atoms at will. Moreover, the concept of 'nano' can be traced back to ancient times - philosophers of various civilizations have contemplated the existence of 'the smallest indivisible particle' and have speculated about the properties that such a particle would have; and the artisans of yore have unconsciously incorporated nano-particles into their ware. Feynman did anticipate many things in nanoscience much before they happened. Yet, 'Who is the father of nanoscience?' is a question that gives plenty of room for thought.