K. Eric Drexler

Kim Eric Drexler is an American engineer born on April 25, 1955. He is best known for introducing the idea of molecular nanotechnology, a field that studies tiny machines made from single molecules. In the 1970s and 1980s, he began exploring what these tiny machines could do.

In 1991, Drexler finished his doctoral thesis at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This work was later turned into a book called Nanosystems: Molecular Machinery Manufacturing and Computation, published in 1992. The book won an award from the Association of American Publishers for being the best computer science book of that year. Because of his important contributions, Drexler is often called the “godfather of nanotechnology.”

Life and work

K. Eric Drexler was inspired by ideas about the limits of growth in the early 1970s. While studying at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he met Gerard K. O'Neill, a physicist known for his work on space colonies. Drexler took part in NASA studies about living in space and created thin metal layers to show how well solar sails could work. He was also involved in space politics and helped an organization defeat a treaty about the Moon in 1980.

In the late 1970s, Drexler started thinking about tiny machines called molecular nanotechnology. He was influenced by a famous talk given by Richard Feynman in 1959. In 1981, he wrote an important research paper about building things at the molecular level. He also wrote a book in 1986 where he first used the term "grey goo" to describe a worry that tiny self-copying machines might get out of control.

Education

Drexler earned three degrees from MIT. He got a bachelor’s degree in 1977, a master’s degree in 1979, and a doctorate in 1991. His doctorate was the first to focus on molecular nanotechnology. His thesis was later published as a book that won an award for the best computer science book of 1992.

Personal life

Drexler married Christine Peterson in 1981, but they divorced in 2002. In 2006, he married Rosa Wang, who works to improve markets for social good.

Reception

See also: Drexler–Smalley debate on molecular nanotechnology

Some scientists thought Drexler’s ideas about tiny machines were too simple. A famous scientist named Richard Smalley said these machines couldn’t work because of problems with tiny "fat fingers." Later, he said they would need to work more like natural tiny helpers in our bodies and only work in water. Drexler said these were unfair arguments and pointed out that scientists had used natural helpers in different liquids before. In 2003, they had a long discussion in a science magazine.

Drexler's ideas have also appeared in many science fiction stories. In books like The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson and Newton’s Wake by Ken MacLeod, his ideas help shape futures where tiny machines change the world. His work is mentioned in several other famous books and even in comic books.

Works

K. Eric Drexler has written many important books and reports about tiny technology called nanotechnology. Some of his well-known works include Engines of Creation from 1986 and Nanosystems: Molecular Machinery, Manufacturing and Computation from 1992.

He also wrote Unbounding the Future in 1991 with two friends, and later updated his first book in 2007 as Engines of Creation 2.0. In 2013, he published Radical Abundance, showing how tiny technology could change the world. In 2019, he wrote a report about smart computer systems, and in 2024, he created free software to help design tiny machines.

Engines of Creation

The Canvas of the Night (1990), (ar) Project Solar Sail, ed. Arthur C. Clarke, NAL/Roc (ISBN 0451450027) Science Fiction.

Unbounding the Future (1991; with Christine Peterson and Gayle Pergamit) (ISBN 0-688-12573-5)

Nanosystems: Molecular Machinery, Manufacturing and Computation (1992)

Engines of Creation 2.0: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology - Updated and Expanded, K. Eric Drexler, 647 pages, (February 2007)

Radical Abundance: How a Revolution in Nanotechnology Will Change Civilization, May 7, 2013, ISBN 1610391136

Reframing Superintelligence: Comprehensive AI Services as General Intelligence, K. Eric Drexler, Technical Report #2019-1, Future of Humanity Institute, University of Oxford, 210 pages (2019)

Molecular Science and Engineering Platform One (MSEP.one), (October 2024), molecular design software and editor, free and open-source software with an MIT License; built on the Godot open-source game engine