Science as we know it today can trace its roots back to Natural Philosophy (physics and chemistry). It's clear that nanotechnology emerges from ideas posed by natural philosophers, specifically the Atomistic Philosophers, and a query that stretches back into antiquity. (For more about the ancients, under Jump joints, click on Ancient World.)

Passionate discussion about this age-old query on the nature of the universe and our role in it is bound to be stimulated by nanotechnology where atoms and molecules which we consider to be amongst the smallest building blocks of all matter, both animate and inanimate, are being manipulated to create new forms of matter.

There are many philosophical traditions that can be consulted for perspective on the grander questions that nanotechnology poses. 

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Jump points

Alfred North Whitehead philosophizes

Jump joints

Ancient World