Our apologies (and a slap on the wrist for one of our hacks) for not listing Eric Drexler as one of the founding fathers of nanotechnology.
But then again, it all depends what kind of nanotechnology we are dealing with.
I have just spent the last two weeks at the London and Zurich stock exchanges, for reasons that will become clear later in the year, surrounded by a posse of investment bankers, lawyers and venture capitalists. One thing that would have sent them screaming and yodeling for the hills (or at least heading for their weekend homes in the Cotswolds), would have been the mention of either Richard Smalley or Eric Drexler.
Zurich and London are interested in a third form of nanotechnology, the sort that makes money. Whether that is of the molecular variety or some tedious but lucrative application of fullerene chemistry doesnt really matter as long as it can be bought, sold, or invested in.
In the meantime, a pint of warm beer in the Neeld Arms awaits.