Physics undergraduates at a certain British University in the 1980s were taught that there was a word outside the lab by being forced to watch an episode of James Burkes Connections every week for the first term of the final year, and then submitting an essay on Science and Society. For staff, this was almost as traumatic as trying to encourage children to eat green vegetables, and for the students it appeared a monumental waste of time. No wonder we ended up with labs full of reckless scientists carelessly hurling sheaves of carbon nanotubes around, flushing pots of nanoparticles down the toilets and throwing throngs of nanobots out of the window in frenzied abandon say environmental groups.
An updated version is about to be introduced in the shape of a new course titled “Nanotechnology: Content and Context,” at Rice University, blending nanotechnology with an understanding of the social and environmental implications. Perhaps more crucially, the course will engender an understanding of who is funding nanotechnology, and why.
Oddly enough, James Burke recently shared a platform with Eric Drexler.