Includes bibliographical references and index.

What is Nanotechnology and how will it affect us? Nanobots, nanoprobes, nanoswarms, nanogenes the list goes on. Nanotechnology is a staple of science fiction and has a rather chequered history when it comes to public perception: will swarms of sentient nanomachines ultimately take over the world or will nanotech give us nothing more than improved sun creams? As this Very Short Introduction shows, the science underpinning nanotechnology is equally asfascinating as the best nano-inspired sci-fi.In this book, Philip Moriarty introduces the key scientific themes and concepts underpinning the field, including interatomic and intermolecularforces, single atom imaging, quantum confinement, self-assembly, molecular machinery, and nanomagnetism. Moriarty includes results from ground-breaking scientific studies, such as scanning probe microscope images of atomic and molecular.